Sub Plans - Elementary Art || [ MORE IDEAS | ONE DAY LESSONS | MIDDLE SCHOOL SUBSTITUTE PLANS ] Art Portfolios from Susan on Long Island
Susan waits till NAEA Convention for her students to make their portfolios. You could pre-punch holes for the pipe cleaner handles - have students insert the pipe cleaners - fold - then reinforce pipe cleaner with colored tape (many art resource catalogs carry colored masking tape and colored "wet and stick" art tape). From Susan: All my students make portfolios with the sub. It's an easy same lesson for all with limited supplies: 36x24 paper folded, markers, pipe cleaners for handles, staple sides. We save them until the end of the year. They put all their year's art work in it and take it home in June. Monsters all Around from Tammi
An easy one I did in a pinch last week for kindergarten was to have them trace a circle (I have a zillion butter tub lids and they love to trace things to practice this skill) and then trace their hand as many times as it will fit around the circle- like spokes coming out from it. Then they used crayons and markers to turn it into a monster. I told the sub that when they started saying, "I'm done!" she can tell them to draw the monster's friends, favorite toys, and food it eats in the background. When I returned, I found the monsters unfinished because she had a big discussion about facial expressions and how you can make your monster scary, happy, etc. I had to put off my next lesson because they begged me to let them finish their monsters! They did a great job putting patterns and designs on them. Beasties Galore from Judy Decker
Imaginary beasties would work with all grade levels. See Linda Wood's Mixed Breed Lesson for examples (these are finished major project by 5th grade). Of course, you would have different expectations for the younger students. My second graders had no trouble doing Eric Carle style beasties one year - so I know they can handle it. Might want to simplify to basic shapes for first graders - but I think they could handle it too (my second graders actually worked on their Eric Carl beasties a day I was out - the sub handled it beautifully - and even made a great sample for me to keep. She was a gem!). "Exquisite Beasties" - I have had students make beasties on a template where the body had to line up between two notches so we could cut them apart and make new animals. The head section of one - with the body of another - and the tail section of another. We made these one year to put in a book. It was my welcome fifth graders to the middle school lesson for that day (I had double the amount of students in my room - all of my sixth graders and all of their fifth grade shadows. I needed something that would work for all). See Exquisite Horse from Silver Buckle Press. (Note: "Exquisite Corpse" was a surreal parlor game).
Earth layers - patterns in nature by Judy Decker
Draw a cross section of the earth - making wavy lines to divide the differnt layers (maybe have some scientific illustrations handy).Dividing up into rows, putting a different pattern/texture in each row. This could be done with markers (fine point black marker for the lines and patterns. Could be colored with colored pencils or crayons, too. Layers could show bones and roots, as well. Bad Hair Day by**Michal Austin**and**Sky McClain**
All grade levels (K thru 8) should be able to have fun with this idea. For Michal's "bad hair day" assignment, draw either a lady's or a man's face. Add hair, either atop the female's head, or the male's mustache and beard. The requirements for this lesson include drawing a minimum of 5 different values, and 5 different line patterns. The values are achieved through variations of line thickness and distance. The entire artwork is created using black permanent marker on 12"x18" white paper. (For a sub, you could use 9" x 12" paper so it will be easy to complete in one day). Sky's lesson has the student drawing a minimum of six different kinds of lines and repeating all around the head for hair. Check Michal Austin's Art Kids site for more great ideas - pictures and brief instructions included! Hey really have some fun with this! Play Bad Day in the Art Room by Greg Percy first. Remember -- things could always be worse (smile). Buy all three CD's -Songs in the Key of Art and never run out of fun in the Art Room!.
See how beautiful this lesson can be! Princeton Community Middle SchoolSee Ali! Bad Hair Day meets Name Design! by Cathy Gaul
I tried Bad Hair Day meets the Name Design Art work folder project (by Bunki Kramer) as a combo. My 6th graders did a head, then used their names to do the beginning of Bad Hair. They either did fat letters or cursive writing around the hairline (like a rainbow) or out from the hairline like rays of the sun. Inside of the letter forms they did Michal's bad hair day patterns. They LOVED seeing both projects by other kids on Michal's and Bunki's websites, and were having a great time trying it as a combo project using sharpie markers in 4 different widths. One girl remarked that she thought the project by Ali (from Princeton Community Middle School) was more a GOOD hair day *grin*. Then I got out the gel metallic markers for finishing flourishes. They had just finished a value study on their posterized digital portraits and were having fun being a bit more creative. Have some more fun! Include meaning of names in the words (Behind the Name site by Mike Campbell. Mike does give art teachers permission to use his site with students)
Also see Bunki Kramer's Name Symmetry - Students as young as fourth grade can handle this lesson.
What's in a Crowd from Linda Wood
Have the kids draw a crowd of people in an unusual situation, like having a party in an elevator, for instance. Tell them you want them to draw everyone's face different, different ages of people, different clothes, different body positions, and you want their drawing to tell a visual story.
Cartoon style is fine. Emphasize differences and overlapping, lots of details...keeps them busy, and they have fun. Let them work on them in pairs for even more enthusiasm. A Day at Kings Island (or any Amusement Park) by Ann Heineman
Since amusement parks are starting up for the season, a crowd of people on
those scary and spinning rides would be fun to visualize and draw, too.
Clowns Express Emotion from Amy
Grade 1: draw clown faces with oil pastels...white face and add make up. She do these on black paper then "frame them by gluing them to a bigger piece of bright paper and then have the kids draw a border on that.
Alternating Color Design from Amy
Grade 2 and 3: draw circles on a paper, draw vertical lines on the paper (through the circles) use 2 different colored markers....color the background (for example) pink and the circle (or the half circle) green in one stripe, color the background green and the circle pink in the next stripe. This is easy and clean and can be finished in about 40 minutes. Susan Holland adds: The first time I saw this lesson with the circles and lines, I thought it sounded perfect and put it in my sub folder, but I have since found that it is not all that easy. It ends up taking my 4th graders two to three 45 minute classes. (so this one might be good when you are going to be out for more than one day) Popsicle Stick Sculpture from Susan Holland
A sub lesson I like to leave for little guys K and 1 (after students are well versed in the procedure for it) is modeling clay with about 10 Popsicle sticks for each students. The students try to build standing structures. Another good source for sub lessons is www.kinderart.com. The lessons there are very thoroughly explained and many are 1 period lessons. See http://www.kinderart.com/drawing/
and http://www.kinderart.com/arthistory/abstractflowers.shtml
It's a Party from a Mouse's Eye View from Amy
Grade 4: Draw a party from a mouse's point of view....Draw all of the people feet only, with the legs and the rest of the body being so tall they come off the paper before they become anything more than legs.She uses this to teach vertical perspective (i.e. if the bottom of an object is higher than the bottom of something else, it is farther away). Extension: Have them draw their own shoes - A party that they would have. Exchange shoes and add their friend's shows to the fun.
Oaxacan inspired Alebrijes (Fantasy Animals) From: Brenda Robson
I showed a Crizmac video on Oaxacan Indians (Oaxacan Woodcarving: Innovation Meets
Tradition) then had the kids draw an exaggerated animal of their own on black paper with oil pastels. They liked that from K-8th! Great idea for Middle School, too. Construction paper crayons would work too. (video available from Crizmac Art and Cultural Education Materials)
Amusement Parks - Marble Runs from Ellen Sears
Right now my 5th graders are creating marble runs - kinetic sculptures...
they beg for it all year, and I save it for our testing cycle - strips of poster board, a demo on construction techniques (scoring, tape etc...) and they are off. (Note from Judy: A science teacher in my building had the students make marble runs with Popsicle sticks - needed several hot glue guns for this)
The younger students use paper strips to create a 3-D amusement park - same construction techniques - and then draw the model with people and surroundings -
"While You Were Out" from: Ellen Sears
I leave books to go with lessons - "While You Were Out" and pictures of Painted Ladies - then they draw their own house with the new color scheme - or any building... you could also have magazine pictures of structures that they can color over. More ideas: Mixed-Up Chameleon - Matthew's Dream
Symmetrical Design from Betsy Larson
Symmetrical designs using markers and white napkins (gives four way design). Keep napkin folded and use markers to create design - unfold when done. Kids love it!. Idea came from Getty TeacherArtExchange list (now TeacherArtExchange)
Amy adds: This also works great with coffee filters.
Texture Rubbing Creatures From Sandy Bacon
I recently used a lesson found here on the list. See Linda Wood's lesson on Eric Carl animals. The children are given a topic or theme. I used a mythological/medieval creature. They used all
kinds of different papers and texture rubbing plates (see Sax catalog pg. 406) to create an Eric Carle style creature. First read Eric Carle's Dragons Dragons: & Other Creatures That Never Were book. I had a sample done and the lesson went very well according to the sub. The kids really had a good time creating. **Hog Wild Metal Magnetic Sculptures**from Linda Wood
Linda has many different learning centers to use as back-up plans. One is Hog Wild Metal Sculptures - the kids really go to town creating unusual creative pieces (think Picasso and other cubist sculptors). These are all temporary as after a few days, they are disassembled and put back into the boxes for others to use. Linda has purchased several sets and mixed them all into one center. See Hog Wild page for more information. Plasticine Clay by Judy Decker
One idea that worked for me was to have Plasticine clay (one color per child only) in small butter dishes - one per child (you could use Baggies, instead I suppose). I had some simple tools available in cans - one for each table (just Popsicle sticks and some simple wooden tools -nothing dangerous). I had torn out enough fabric backed wall paper samples for each student to use as a placemat. This was particularly helpful if I was going to be out during a ceramics lesson and didn't feel the substitute would be able to handle the students being at all different stages of completion in a project. This was an idea I got from Linda Lehman of Bath Elementary. Create a Coloring Sheet - by Sky McClain
Another fun substitute plan is to have them draw a picture on Xerox paper using pencil only. It has to be just an outline because a few of the best ones will be chosen by me (on my return) to be Xeroxed and then they will be used as coloring sheets for all my other classes to color. I print their name clearly on the bottom so everyone can see who did it. I keep these coloring sheets in a box lid in the art room next to the cans of markers. They can be colored if the children finish their art project early. Sometimes I suggest a theme like dinosaurs or favorite cartoon characters or summertime fun. They must fill the page with lots of interesting things to be colored or else it won't be chosen. Shapes and Things by Ellen Sears
I have left for grades 2-7. I left the book 'Shapes and Things' by Tana Hoban - a book of photo grams along with a bucket of kitchen utensils.
Two assignments I have left are: 1. Draw one object 5 times - 1 complete, and four coming onto or going off of the page
2. Divide the paper into 6 unequal sections. Draw the silhouette in one section to fill... Abstract the object in each of the remaining sections by - multiplying, dividing, adding, subtracting, stretching... They can use markers to add pattern in negative or positive, warm and cool, complementary... Design a T-Shirt by Jean Womack
Jean has been substituting in the San Francisco area. One very professional art teacher I worked with gave the kids an outline of a T-shirt and asked them to design their own T-shirt. Then she had them add the pants and arms, legs, and head. That would be good for one or two days. Castles Dragons and More by Jean Womack
Another great teacher was gone for a week. She left a very elaborate lesson plan where they were supposed to draw a castle, from a handout. Then add dragons, trees, etc, all from the handout. And draw lots of detail. She said they love castles. She drew one on the board that was awesome. Jean showed Cinderella or Snow White or one of those Disney movies that have castles in it (you might want to check with the school policy on showing Disney videos - maybe show a segment of the video). She told them that Disney people made a lot of money drawing castles. Jean also got old calendars with castles and put them up on the wall. Rainbow Fish - idea by Michal Austin
This could work for grades K thru 2. Read Rainbow Fish http://www.geocities.com/theartkids/ Students draw large fish to fill 9 x 12 white paper - Make interesting patterns (could show Paul Klee print of Goldfish - and one of Fisherman), outline heavily with black crayon. Color in sections heavily with crayon. Use watercolor wash in negative space (could wait and do watercolor when teacher returns). Add a glitter glue accent to some scales Elmer Again - idea by Michal Austin
This could work for grades 1 to 2- http://www.geocities.com/theartkids.l Have sub read story "Elmer Again" by David McKee - You could have a 1' gridded paper run off for the checkerboard. Students begin coloring the checker board the day you are off - finish when you return. Design Money - from Sara Green (for elementary and middle school) Copy dollar bills and distribute them to the tables. You could copy money from other countries if available. Discuss the design- center, border etc. Tell the students they are designing the new money for their new country. They name the country, they design the symbols and designs. You can cut 41/2 x 12 inch pieces of paper for the sub ahead of time.
In a pinch? Try ART a Facts™ Magazine Source for Art Lesson Plans and Teacher Resources for Art Education Elementary and Secondary Level. Five issues each year - Comes in set of 30 copies. Homeschool issue also available (consists of one copy of each of the five issues). From Judy: I would recommend you order a copy for elementary and secondary for yourself (see Homeschool price - it is worth it!). Lessons are different for each level....Secondary can be adapted for lower grades, too. There is not much difference in reading level. Font is smaller on Secondary copy so there is more in depth information - also good for you to have. Internet resources are given as well as books. You can easily write up a hands on exercise for student to do after they are finished reading and discussing the magazine. Reading level is probably grade 4 and up. Substitute could read to lower grades.
Ideas from Teachers Submitted to Getty TeacherArtExchange Middle School and High School - ElementaryArt Games Many of these ideas are adaptable for different levels. 's Un-Birthday Party - submitted by Christa Wise My high school. students have a lot of fun with an un-birthday party. They randomly draw an artist's name from a "hat." They must look up this artist and read enough about him/her that they can come up with six items that would make good gifts for the artist. They wrap the six presents in a box that is constructed/painted in the artist's style. At the "party," each student opens his/her box and explains why these items would be appreciated by the artist and show examples of the artist's work to help everyone understand the style of the wrapping for the present. Naturally we also have cake and milk.
For instance: In a clear plastic box with black electrical tape edges ("beams,") a student presented the International School work of the architect Philip Johnson (best known for his glass and beam home in Connecticut). Included were a small set of blueprints, round black eyeglasses (his signature look), and other stuff I don't remember. In the Monet box we found a small Japanese bridge, artificial water lilies, and sunglasses that this "plein aire" painter would have found useful. Renoir got arthritis cream among other stuff, Frank Lloyd Wright got blocks, and Mary Cassatt had a baby doll.
I think this kind of project requires the students to read and use higher order thinking skills to synthesize what these artists might have valued in their lives -- maybe makes them more real than a report often simply down-loaded from the internet. Adapting the style of the artist to the wrapping for the present is a different spin on the time-honored assignment of working "in the manner of" a famous artist.
We display the final pieces with a small 3 x 5 (7.6 x 12.7 cm) card next to each of the six present items to explain why these things were chosen for the box. There is a lot of interest in looking at each others' presents, and I think this is a pretty good way to expose students to a lot of artists at once. It isn't deep, but I think it is pretty effective and fun! Christa added in a separate email: Sometimes I do this before visiting an art museum. I choose artists whose work we will be seeing getting everyone a little familiar. When kids split in groups, there are four "experts" on four artists in every group. Sara Gant did the Unbirthday lesson with her students and they had a party to celebrate. From Sara: The kids did do birthday invitations to teachers who had planning periods at that time, as well as admin/office people etc. I had one class doing it. I brought in a cake and they brought drinks, brownies, cookies, etc. The birthday presents truly showed that the students were making connections and had learned about their artist. One boy did Dali and had put a mustache trimmer in his box....Someone else did Keith Haring and had put a condom in it- knowing full well the artist had died of Aids. See Sara's Lesson plan Artist's Trading Cards - submitted by Christa Wise Before taking an overnight trip to Chicago, I had students choose a topic from my list (of stuff I knew we'd see). Each student had to make four trading cards, like baseball cards, for their topic. We had a standard template they could find on the computer. We printed up all the cards (30 students times four -- 120 cards) and made a set for each of the participants.
Then, when parents were present at the at final details meeting before the trip, we had students sit with their roommates (four to a group) and had a Quiz Bowl about the facts on the cards. The winning team were declared kings/queens of the trip, and got to have "first pick" of everything --where to sit on the bus, bigger candy bars at break, choice of rooms.
It was good preparation and gave them a lot of information. We had lots of carry-over, students spieling off information from the cards to impress docents or peers. It got to be a game. See sample cards (PDF's): Sample front showing photograph/portrait and imageSample front (no images) Sample back - You just need a blank template for inserting the information on the back of the cards. Sample template and box pattern - from Chia's Rubber Stamp Art Gallery Talk - submitted by Marcia in Illinois (see also Living Painting) I use drama with my senior studio class. Each year they create and perform Living Paintings at the Student Art Show opening. (See examples of the integration of art and drama) They act (as the figure in the painting) in tableau in front of their (life-sized) painting while another student "docent" talks to the audience about the artist and the time period. This information has been researched by the "docent" and the art student. We perform this as if it were a "Gallery Talk", moving from painting to painting. My friend, the Drama teacher, has her class help with costuming, props and dialogue. We spend one month on these for 2 hrs. of performance. We haven't ever really linked this to the State Standards in Art or Drama - but I know we should. (Note from Judy - There are many connections to the art curriculum. Marcia is going to try to get images to share the next time she does this) Acting the Part - submitted by Marvin Bartel Many students enjoy acting out something about an artist. Students form small groups. Each group selects an artist from a list of names supplied by the teacher. They research the artist and prepare a short skit. After the skit they hand out review sheet for the class or post a poster for the class to review. The skit can be like a talk show interview or the artist in her studio explaining a painting she did. The group can discuss a large reproduction or a projected image based on a prepared script. The actor playing the artist answers questions about her sources of ideas, composition, difficulties, special interests, her own childhood, her training, and so on. Living Paintings - submitted by Renee Berge My 8th graders did a "Living Art" project. There is a professional group in Laguna Beach, California that does this type of production. Sunday Morning did a feature on it. I wrote CBS and they sold the segment to me for $20. It was worth it. The students picked a painting, usually with people in it. They research the artist, interpret the painting and write a paper as a group of 2 to 5 students. They then recreate the painting in large format, they create the background with a variety of materials and then put themselves as the characters into the famous artwork by creating costumes. The students set up there background and props then pose for 5 minutes as a curtain is lifted to show them. One student is picked to narrate the history of the artists and explain why the artist created the work. We entered a contest at a museum for middle school and high school students. My favorite rendition was the Three Musiciansby Pablo Picasso. Sara Gant did Living Paintings for her Art Night. The student were a huge success. See Living Paintings by Nancy Walkup. Life Size Figures - Artist Research - from Barbara Andrews Level: Middle school - high school (adaptable to upper elementary)
Collect a number of corrugated boxes for this. Students can work in groups. For more permanent sculptures - make wood boxes (collaborate with the Industrial Technology classes).
Students research an artist and art style that has figurative work. Students also research Marisol Escobar.
Students assemble boxes (these are life size figures) - apply layers of paper mache - paint with a base coat. Select a figure from one of the paintings of your selected artist. Paint the figure on all side of the boxes (showing front - side and back views of what the figures might look like). Note: two students painted American Gothic as basketball players for their school... so students do show some creativity. For wood boxes - students can use house paints making them more permanent (priming with a good oil base primer). Wood sculptures can be displayed on the school grounds.
Note: Barbara gets house paint donated from local hardware and paint stores. They do a lot of mural painting in the community. She began her student centered class with one class and now has five periods a day. Offering student centered art has made scheduling nightmares go away. Students can repeat the class year after year. All levels are in the same period. Students are highly motivated. Bi-fold Painting - Artist Research - submitted by Renee Berge Another project I really liked for art history research was a bi-fold with a mirror on one side, the students painted a portrait of the artist on one side and it reflected in the mirror. Around the mirror was a 3" border and the students recreated bits and pieces of the artist into a collage painting. For example, one student picked patterns from a variety of Matisse's painting and used them. On the back of the bi-fold was a biography of the artist. (See example on Renee's Web Page.) **Art History Timeline**with**Artist Research Paper**- submitted by William Van Horn Artists Poster - submitted by Kimberly Hutts An idea that I think I got from the NAEA Conference is to have them do research "posters" instead of papers. I offered this to my Jr. high students as extra credit last year. They were required to research an artist and type up a short biography as the main part of the poster. They also had to include a small print of a work of art created by that artist, a time-line of important events during the artist's life, a picture of the artist, either an informal critique of the work of art that they included or historical information about that work of art and a list of references on the back of the poster. I graded of accuracy of information, readability, neatness, composition of poster, and inclusion of all required components. **Artist Poster Lesson**- submitted by Dorothy Morris**Artist Research Worksheet** **Artist Research - Accordion Fold Book**- submitted by Kara LiCausi **E-Reports Web Pages**- submitted by Lazelle Parker
Assignment: To create an electronic report about a 19th or 20th century artist. · Each individual "website" has a page of biographical information, a page analyzing an artwork by the featured artist and a page for the bibliography as well as "About the Webmaster". · The students used the links provided on the Art History Research Links page to fill out a worksheet. · For the design of their web pages, they used images from sites found on the Webmaster Info and Links page. Cross Curricular Art History Research - submitted by Stephanie Corder
Summary: Students select an artist of their choice, research, then create a composition of an area of their school "in the style of" the artist of their choice. They write a report to share with the class. Shown: Welcoming Stairway in the style of Chagall Materials: Open media (within reason) 18 x 24 (46 x 61 cm) Paper Visual resources/prints for a variety of artists from several time periods
Modern Movements - submitted by Dawn Stein Day 1 - Students visually sorted postcard images of each of 6 time periods. Child Sized masterpieces (below) has good sets of images if you don't already have a collection. · How to Use Child Size Masterpieces · Child-Size Masterpieces for Step 5: Learning About Famous Paintings Day 2 - I had the students break into groups and do online research in the LMC. (I have the gathering info sheet they used at school - let me know if you're intested in it)
Day 3- Students worked together to created a poster for their art movement - that would be used by them to introduce the movement to the rest of the class. They had additional text resources available for continuing the project.
Days 4 and 5 - Students worked on ways to present the info in the spirit of Gardner's MI theory; meaning they could use anything they wanted to present the info. Rap, Newspaper edition, Newscast, Act out a image. (I think most teachers would be uncomfortable with this much leeway. I also plan to have a booklet available to tell them specifically how to go about each option, with job roles.)
Week 2 - They made a 5 -10 minute presentation and then I followed up with a project that was made in that style. Slide Jam (BC Periods) - submitted by Dawn Stein When I introduced the BC art periods, I found that most of them had a pretty good feel for the work (we have an awesome History/Social studies dept apparently!) So, I broke them up into groups, they did some reading and then we had a "slide jam"
Students sat in their groups (so they could communicate with each other) and I showed a work of art. If they claimed the art period's slide, they got a point. (I also asked why it belonged or didn't belong) If they missed one that belonged to them, they lost a point. Another group could also get a point for recognizing the period it actually belonged to. They also lost a point (or maybe two) for guessing the wrong one. A student kept a tally of points for me.
They seem to like anything that's competitive in 6th grade. They really had fun and wanted to play this one again. Sentence Puzzle/Scramble - submitted by Janet One thing I did once was type up the information about the artist I wanted the kids to know, then cut the paper up into strips and numbered them. As the students entered, I handed each student a strip. The stood in a line, in order and took turns reading the information. I also had a complete handout for them to put in their folders. 6 Traits Workshop Ideas - submitted by Kimberly Herbert (also for elementary)
You take a passage about any subject, format it so each sentence has one line, and cut them apart. The students work in groups to put the passage back in a logical order. Another activity that they showed us that can be adapted for any subject is also fun and incorporates writing. The teacher makes a list of facts, non-facts (false facts), and opinions about a subject. Students work in groups to organize the bits into the proper categories. Then they individually write a paragraph using only the facts. Scavenger Hunt - submitted by Michal Austin (also for elementary) I have my students go on a scavenger hunt - put up several reproductions and a list of things to find. Or, put up one painting and have them see who can come up with the most objects that can be seen in the painting.
I like to break up the info into smaller chunks, and include children's books whenever possible. It is amazing how even the most jaded high schooler will sit and listen quietly to a picture book - I usually open with a "just humor me on this, ok?". Picasso can be introduced with "When Pigasso Met Mootisse," Van Gogh has several books written about him, and more books about different artists are coming out all the time. I am planning on sharing several of these with my high school students and having them write and illustrate some children's books about different artists. Paul Harvey always has interesting tidbits about different artists. Students love the gossip and memorable stories about artists - I like the book "Artists, their lives and what the neighbors thought" (title may not be accurate). "Blind Date" (from NAEA presentation by Diane Asay) - Kimberly Hutts "Let's Get Visual: Using Images in Art Classes" presentation by Diane Asay - "Blind Date": Using prints with figures as their main subject matter. Ask students to speculate as to what it would be like "if these two went on a blind date." ~ Kimberly Hutts
Maggie White adds - I've used her "blind date" idea with my art history classes and it's a lot of fun. My favorite couple are David and Judith (who assassinated Holofernes). Both were ordinary Jews who did something heroic to save their people, though by different means. Pick out any two famous works of people and send them on a blind date. Naming tables after famous artists (submitted by a number of teachers) Name the tables where your students sit after different artists then study those artists over the course of the year. Many teachers change those names each year. Each table would do an independent study of their artist and then present to the class sometime through out the term. Put artist names in a hat to see who goes first - second and so forth. Provide a lot of help for the first group to get the ball rolling. Less help will be needed for the next groups. Maybe even have each group present a brief hands on lesson? Set up learning centers in your classroom for each artist. If possible, provide web page resources. See Woody Duncan's Table Artists pages. Assign one lesson where students develop their OWN project inspired by their table artists. This might be a culminating lesson towards the end of the term. French Cafe - submitted by Jeremy Wehlan
My area is drama so that would be my solution and I have an idea for you.... That was a very interesting period (Surrealism was the topic) in art and almost everybody was in Paris at the time. I've been teaching for twenty years so I know that classes are made up of kids with mixed ambitions, some are driven and others coast. If you can get some of your more ambitious students to each pick an artist that was living in Paris at that time, or not, just an artist from the time, who maybe went to Paris. Get them each to pick one artist and to do some basic research on that artist, read a biography or something like that. They all had attitudes about each other, some were friends, others hated each other. Then fake a French cafe set in the classroom and have them do an "improv" as these characters inhabit the cafe. Don't forget the costumes, that is a real selling point. It can be as simple as a scarf, a hat, a cane, etc., but any attempt at costume adds a level of excitement/fun that should not be missed. If the other students get excited by the idea, let them find another artist of the time or even before that time, just an artist with an attitude and let them join in. It could be a once a week thing. Everyone can get into the act as bartenders, waiters, dancing girls, etc. More ideas can be found on Jeremy's Website. Interview a Famous Artist - from Harold Olejarz Famous Artist Interview Projects - Students selected and researched a famous artist. One of the students played the artist and another interviewed the artist. See the student videos on Harold's site Shoe Box Gallery - submitted by Kathleen Arola Lesson plan by Laura Shifflett- Students study an artist via the Internet and collect images. They create a mini gallery of the work. Artist Game - Art History Research - submitted by Jeannie Sandoval
Jeannie Sandoval sent in this link http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/gameboard.htm
You can print off this template - or have students design their own. I can see this working as a group artist research project. Teachers can pre-select a list of artists for the students to consider. Each groups picks a different artist from the list.
Divide the students into groups of three. Make the game boards with spaces in three different colors. One student will write questions about the life of the artist -- those will be keyed to one color of the board. Another student will write specific questions about the art of the artist - and that will be a different board color. The third group member writes questions about the times of the artist (world events and artist's contemporaries). Maybe have each student come up with ten questions (some may be eliminated by group discussion) Some questions could even have a bonus! - The students take a trip to the gallery and select a small laminated print to keep featuring a noted work by the artist. Maybe even have a fourth pile of cards that are more challenging questions - student gets to move double spaces if answered correctly. The group decides on game colors and the design of the three piles of cards. Students read over all the questions written and select the best ones for printing (integrating technology). The group also settles on a token design. After the project is finished - Groups exchange games for a day to play. Students can easily make copies of the games to take home. The original game is laminated and kept in the art room for other classes to play. Ideas Letter to the Artist - submitted by Kathleen Arola This is good for elementary through high school. I think it would be really fun to have kids address envelopes to past or present famous artists (either the same artist for the whole class, after studying that person's work, or different artists for everyone, after individual research, depending upon the grade level). The envelopes could be covered with designs inspired by the artist to whom each one is addressed. If time permitted, letters could be written to the artists (either before or after designing the envelopes) and placed inside them. The letters would have to show an understanding and knowledge of the artist's work by the questions that are asked.
Added by Judy Decker: Oh definitely do the letter too! students would have to write the letter referring to things from the artist's life.... Like pretend Vincent just got to Arles... and ask if he has settled in and where. Ask if he has heard anything from his Gauguin....Tell him you heard the Sun flowers are gorgeous around there - ask him if he has considered painting them....Kids would have to be familiar with that area of France, too, and ask if he has been to such and such a place yet....Ask if he has met a "friend" of theirs - the postman -- and so on. Maybe the first year - do all the same artist for your own sanity. Have groups do different time periods in the artist's life.... Like Picasso - so many different styles!
Some could even do his young work as a kid - like be a "pen pal" - Pretend that they are answering the last letter they received - so students would have to figure out what Picasso (or whoever) would have written to him/her first. The artist might have said "I just finished such and such a painting....and give a thorough description...Older students could actually write two letters - one from the artist and one to the artist. You could give guidelines like: Letters must include description of at least one major work. Letters must include date/time period - location - three facts about the artists life. Make similar requirements for what the should should share about them - Maybe include three facts (in a creative way) about their location from the same time period. What was going on in USA (or your country) when Picasso was growing up? Artist on a Box - from Sandy Jahnle (In response to the envelope idea) My students used boxes in a similar way this past year -- students did their research on an artist and their product was a six-sided box with a drawn example of the artist's work on one side, a short bio on the second side, and the other four sides were devoted to Description, Analysis, Interpretation, and Judgment of the art. See the following website for more ideas: http://www.kcsd.k12.pa.us/~projects/critic. This idea is suitable for elementary through high school. **Dress up as the Olde Masters**- lesson plan by Valerie Kerwin Putting on an Act (Matisse) - submitted by MaryAnn Kohl This is something MaryAnn did for a young artists conference in Ferndale, Washington. She had four different groups of kids, from age K-6. They wanted her to focus on a great master, and do an art project in that style. She chose Matisse, because she has always loved his paper cut-out phase. When the kids entered the room, she was dressed as Matisse, sitting up in bed (his last years were such), cutting paper and talking about "his" art. Then they did some paper cut-outs as a follow up. She also showed them some pictures of Matisse and his work. She found some beautiful quotes from Matisse that were part of her dialog.
Like: · Matisse draws blindfolded and says, "I wanted to see if I had the image in my fingers." · "My drawing effort (cutting paper) is flowering after 50 years of effort." · Matisse draws in the air before drawing on the paper, saying "When my hand makes a strange journey of its own, it is that I had not yet begun to sing."About being bedridden: "I can't get up any more. So I had my bed moved to the largest room in the house, and here I work." He is covered with a yellow blanket with red flowers. Working with large scissors, he cuts away at paper. He tapes charcoal to a fishing pole and draws on the ceiling and wall. · He once said, "I feel all the curiosity of a traveler in a foreign land. I go forward totally in my expression of color." · About cutting paper, "I am like a medieval sculptor carving into stone." and "With only scissors and paste, I set a dancer free." · Having drawn his grandchildren on the ceiling over his bed, "I drew my grand children on the ceiling today., They keep me company." · When asked if he would go back to painting. "I have plenty of time for that - I'm only 83!" Other quotes: · My work is like peering into a mirror that is steamed over. · Copying objects is nothing. One must express feelings! · My life is an effort that stems from my search for the truth. · I want my art to fill rooms with gaiety, a place to make people happy. Naming tables after famous artists (submitted by a number of teachers) Name the tables where your students sit after different artists then study those artists over the course of the year. Many teachers change those names each year. From Linda Woods: I bought 6 books for my table artists that have full page illustrations. I determine my table artists each year on what post card collections I find, or what book I find to cut up. Not too scientific. This year my table artists by "default" are O'Keeffe, Escher, Seurat, Renoir, Matisse, and Audubon. I cut out six foam core shapes, spray painted them glossy black, drilled holes for hanging, and splashed each artist's name on them in silver with some zippy little pattern backgrounds. I'm hanging two back to back illustrations from these books from the foam core with fishing line. From the bottom of the posters, I am dangling cutout words relating to each artist. These will hang over each table to give my table groups "identity." My bulletin boards will be more pages cut from these 6 books and all about the table artists. On my first day, we'll play some game about the table artists briefly. Last year's artists were Van Gogh, Picasso, Kahlo, Botticelli, Degas, and Vermeer.
Suggested "First Day Games" for table artists: 1. Artist "Scavenger Hunt" (submitted by Michal Austin) - Come up with a list of things they need to find in the paintings/works you have on display. Have them work in teams. The first team to find all gets a reward - like each member will get a small laminated mini print of their table artist (I am giving you permission to make prints from your resources for this purpose) -The prizes could be postcard size - with info about the artist, a self portrait or photo and image info on the back). Now - the problem is - you won't know who will win so have no clue what prints to make up in advance. My answer to this would be to have a page of digital images printed off for each artist and let the kiddies who win pick out the one they want (four on a page for each artist - just four would be enough)...They will order their prize....so maybe have an arty treat too as an immediate reward.
Got any Sax product freebies? or fancy pencils?
2. Letter/Email to the artist (idea submitted by Kathleen Arola). Have each team come up with a series of questions they have for their table artist. Look at all questions each group came up with at the end of the day....Select five or six per artist and then set up an email account for each one on Yahoo (Can you Yahoo from school? Many schools have Yahoo mail blocked). Use the same password for each Yahoo account OKeeffe@yahoo.com - Matisse@yahoo.com and so forth (you might find that some may already have Yahoo accounts. You will email the artist from your own school account. When the kiddies aren't around - you would work on answering their questions (even call upon the art ed list experts to help if you are stumped - some list members may be "experts" on certain artists) - then mail back the answers -- and include a book (from your library) - or web sites where they can find out more. You might consider getting a parent volunteer to be the artist and have the parent volunteer send the email (make sure the questions you give them are ones the parents can easily find answers to). This was sparked by seeing Kathleen's letter post - I added the technology twist to do email. Naturally - I would like to put a sample series of questions ( a student sample letter) and answers on IAD for this. Each kid could write a letter to the artist and decorate the envelope "in the style of" (a self directed lesson - no added teaching on your part - you just provide the materials - colored pencils. crayons and.or markers would be easiest to monitor).
Linda reinforces her Table Artists everyday - From Linda: Sometimes I tell my kids to do things as they walk to the door...things that have to do with their table artists. For example, one of the posters I have on the wall for Escher is the Waterfall where the river flows uphill on a rooftop. One day I told them to move like a river flowing backwards to the door. one day I told them to turn from day into night as they walked to the door. I told the Renoirs to dance a waltz to the door. On another day I told them to pinch their cheeks till they were really rosy and walk in their most elegant clothes to thedoor. The Matisses had to form a group organic shape while holding hands as they walked to the door. One day the Matisses had to walk in a pattern to the door. O'Keeffes had to walk like a skeleton to the door, slither like a desert snake to the door, and one day had to hold GIANT flowers as they walked to the door. The Seurats had to pretend to ride on a circus horse to the door, imagine that their feet were paint brushes and paint a dotted line to the door. Audubons have had to quack to the door, fly to the door, and pretend to be taxidermied as they walked to the door. They love that game. (Linda comes up with all of these ideas on the spot - she has shared many more with me). Artist Activity Cards - submitted by MaryAnn Kohl I've just posted some "art activity cards" for the regular elementary classroom, though may be used in art rooms as well. The cards are taken from my book, Discovering Great Artists, and you have permission to print them one time for classroom use, but not for distribution (please). Go to: http://www.brightring.com/ - choose "Activity Cards" - Download pdf file Note from Judy: These would be great for your "Free Time" Art Days. Print out these Art History Activity cards and laminate them. Add to them with some of your own favorite artists. Place cards in your various media centers.
| MORE IDEAS - 1 DAY LESSONS**MOTIVATING LESSONS****ELEMENTARY SUB** Substitute Plans and Time Fillers for Middle School - for**High School** Lesson: Flip Book Faces Submitted by**Melissa Speelman**
One of my most fun and successful sub plans has been based on the book "Making Faces" by Norman Messenger.
If you are not familiar with the book, it is filled with front and side views of faces, some very strange. Each section of the book flips to create new and even stranger faces. There is also a "celebrity" version of the book.
The book is the same size as legal paper (8.5"x14"). What I do is trace the sections of the book as well as a few lines of the heads to show students where their drawings must cross over in each section. This ensures that the faces they draw will line up with everyone else's drawings. I photocopy the template onto legal size paper for everyone. Students create their own face (colored pencil), I laminate them and bind them together. Once bound, I cut on the lines separating each section allowing students to flip and change the faces.
The students love creating and looking at these faces. Many students create multiple faces. This year I created a second template for the side view of the face. Then I ask students to create a side view that matched their front view. This proved to be pretty challenging for some. I make templates -- The templates are very easy to make yourself since the format of the book is legal size. Just a note, I photocopy the template for everyone very lightly so that the guide lines are almost disappear once drawing and coloring is complete. Flip Book Alternative - by**Linda Wood**
Suitable for many grade levels. I have done "Head, Body, Feet" flip books for years. When I do my books, I have kids work in groups to create a larger book in less time. They work in groups of 3. At first they line up 3 sheets of 3 x 4 paper vertically and make a mark at the edges where each joins...between the top two sheets, they mark the width of the connecting neck on top and middle paper, on the bottom and middle edges, they mark where the body transitions into legs or whatever means of getting around they dream up! Then they trace these marks (measurements) on lots of other pieces of paper. Then they go to work...one person dreams up all sorts of ridiculous heads and necks, another designs lots of random bodies with lots of details, the 3rd kid designs the "legs", which might be carrots, tree trunks, real legs, animal legs and feet, etc. The heads and bodies can be human or animal, too. The only important thing is that they remember their original measurements in their drawings, as later, they all have to join up. When we are tired of drawing (usually about 3 or 4 days), we put them together in booklets and kids have fun looking at each other's wacky combinations. It's great for a sub, also great for an end of the year, fun, "mindless to the teacher" activity that kids love. So much to do in the little classroom prior to closing up shop. I always try to do something like this at the end that is pressure free! Flip Book Alternative- by**Bunki Kramer**
I have done two lessons similar with your "faces". When we were doing our "Screamer" classes (monster-making), during the drying times we made monster flip books like your face book. It was a great time-filler between drying times and one they could always return to. I had forgotten all about this lesson and glad you brought it up. I particularly like the idea of laminating and binding them. We just used the old fashioned stapled way.
The other lesson I've done similar is in 3D. I had some redwood (or any kind of wood) posts that were about 3x3" and the shop teacher cut them into 3x3x3" squares. We slightly sanded these to get off the spikes of wood which were left. Each student got 3 of these square blocks which they stacked one on top of another. They blocked off on drawing paper 9 x12" three-inch squares which gave them the specific measurements of each side of the stacked square and they could sketch in their faces. They transferred onto the blocks with the measured gaps lining up on each. We painted them in tempera. They could "rotate" each block so they would have different parts of the faces connected to make different other faces. When finished, they protected their sculptures with clear spray paint.
Art Appreciation with this project: Marisol Escobar, Marisol Pop Art (Artcyclopedia Online) and/or Dr Seusse
Another use for those post squares is to give each student ONE and they have to make it a "piece of themselves" or a "self-portrait" about who they are. I put out little bits of stuff like wire, beads, cloth, corrugated board, tag board, nails, hammer, lace, computer parts, ribbon, glue, etc. plus tempera. I got some wonderful little sculptures.
One was covered in "eyes" with tag board eyes painted and popping out onto wires. Another used just nails and corrugated board painted and with beads underneath as little pedestals. Drawing Ideas From**Jayna Huffines** Here is what I've tried for Middle School sub plans lately, and the kids seem to like it a lot. Next year I intend to give the students a Sub Assignment check list, with a list of assignments that can be completed in a day or two using colored pencil only (so the sub will not have to stress about supplies). I like the idea of giving the kids a choice, because it kind of feels like a "free day" to them rather than a day when they know they will have written work to complete. I feel much better about giving my students written work when I am there for feedback, anyway. 1) How do you picture yourself in twenty years? What will you look like? What will your job be?
2) Draw your family portrait, but not in a posed format. Draw everyone the way YOU see them! Is your brother a pest? How could you show that? Does your sister think she's a princess? Draw her that way! Do you believe that your mother runs the household? How could you draw her? How should you look compared to the rest of your family?
3) Fold your drawing paper in half lengthwise and draw the front of a locker. On the inside of the paper, draw the inside of the locker. You may draw it realistically, with books, notebooks, gym clothes, etc., or you can imagine that your locker door opens to another dimension to reveal a fantasy world. What would the inside of your locker look like then? (Thanks to the originator of this idea-I'm not sure who to give credit to)
4) What if there really is life on Mars? What would the environment look like? Draw it in either one or two point perspective.
5) Draw the inside of your bedroom (mess and all!) in one point perspective.
And the list could go on and on....Jayna will give updates from time to time so check back. Design/Drawing Ideas From**Kara LiCausi** The sub plans I leave are very similar to Jayna's, in that I leave a list of options for the students to choose from. The projects could be completed in colored pencil so that there are no issues with supplies. I have the students do their work in their sketchbook and hand them in for a grade to make sure that nobody is wasting time while I'm not around. I also use these for homework sketchbook assignments.
1. Pretend that you are a fashion designer. Design an outfit for each season, complete with accessories. Pay close attention to the color schemes and how they would be appropriate to each season.
2. Design a car, boat, plane, motorcycle, etc. Add interesting gadgets or features such as ones that could make them fly, or turn invisible. The students may label and describe the parts and often name their "machines".
3. Draw an animal in a strange environment. The animal may be real or imaginary. I have seen elephants in fish bowls, and a herd of cows flying in the sky...a really fun project!
4. Draw yourself or someone you know as a cartoon, a background must be included.
5. Choose an image (art print) that is hanging in the classroom. Draw it as best as you can, but change the color scheme.
6. Fold your paper in half. Choose a landscape and draw it twice, once on each half of the paper, but draw the landscape as you would see it in two different season. Make use of warm and cool colors and add interesting details.
7. Draw an everyday scene, such as a day at the zoo, park, carnival, etc, but either add 5 hidden pictures or draw 5 things within the picture that are bizarre, but not immediately obvious to the viewer.
8. Draw your hand in three different positions. Create a composition using all three drawings. (This one was from Yvette Lewis) **Hog Wild Metal Magnetic Sculptures**from**Linda Wood**
Linda has many different learning centers to use as back-up plans. One is Hog Wild Metal Sculptures - the kids really go to town creating unusual creative pieces (think Picasso and other cubist sculptors). These are all temporary as after a few days, they are disassembled and put back into the boxes for others to use. Linda has purchased several sets and mixed them all into one center. See Hog Wild page for more information. What's inside your Locker? from Yvette Lewis
Handle this as a lesson in surrealism - fantasy - or personal self portrait of a different kind. Draw details of locker on out side, lock, handle, vents etc. I provided a template of the locker for them to put inside the folded 12 x 18 (or 9 x 12) drawing paper for those who had trouble remembering what our lockers looked like. Inside draw whatever wild and unusual objects that might be hiding while no one is looking. Students can do monsters, talking sneakers, underwater scenes, landscapes, animals, Finish in colored pencils or makers. Posted originally by Yvette Lewis.
Bad Hair Day by Michal Austin and Sky McClain
All grade levels (K thru 8) should be able to have fun with this idea. For Michal's "bad hair day" assignment, draw either a lady's or a man's face. Add hair, either atop the female's head, or the male's mustache and beard. The requirements for this lesson include drawing a minimum of 5 different values, and 5 different line patterns. The values are achieved through variations of line thickness and distance. The entire artwork is created using black permanent marker on 12"x18" white paper. (For a sub, you could use 9" x 12" paper so it will be easy to complete in one day). Sky's lesson has the student drawing a minimum of six different kinds of lines and repeating all around the head for hair. Check Michal Austin's Art Kids site for more great ideas - pictures and brief instructions included!
See how beautiful this lesson can be! Princeton Community Middle School
Cryptograms from Yvette Lewis
Use 1" grid paper. Create a symbol for each letter of the alphabet -- it should fill the
square. Write your name or a secret message with the new alphabet **Surrealism Hand Drawing by Bunki Kramer**
Have students draw their hand realistically first - then create a surreal hand. See also Surreal Feet.
From Jean Womack: I like the lesson plan where you trace the outline of the hand and fill each
finger with a different texture or pattern. They can also draw animals or people in the hand. They usually say they've done it before, so I say that great artists draw and paint the same thing over and over, like Monet's haystacks, so please do it again One girl drew a "save the animals"
picture in her hand. Here is how Michal Austin answers the problem " We did that before": When I have students tell me they've done something before I ask them if they've ever had pizza. Then I ask them if they've had pizza more than once, and if they'd ever like to have pizza again. Then I explain that good things are worth doing more than once. Shapes and Things by Ellen Sears
I have left for grades 2-7. I left the book 'Shapes and Things' by Tana Hoban - a book of photo grams along with a bucket of kitchen utensils.
Two assignments I have left are: 1. Draw one object 5 times - 1 complete, and four coming onto or going off of the page
2. Divide the paper into 6 unequal sections. Draw the silhouette in one section to fill... Abstract the object in each of the remaining sections by - multiplying, dividing, adding, subtracting, stretching... They can use markers to add pattern in negative or positive, warm and cool, complementary...
Castles Dragons and More by Jean Womack
This is good for sixth graders. Jean is a substitute in the San Francisco area. An art teacher was gone for a week. She left a very elaborate lesson plan where the students were supposed to draw a castle, from a handout. Then add dragons, trees, etc, all from the handout. And draw lots of detail. She said they love castles. She drew one on the board that was awesome. Jean showed Cinderella or Snow White or one of those Disney movies that have castles in it (you might want to check with the school policy on showing Disney videos - maybe show a segment of the video). She told them that Disney people made a lot of money drawing castles. Jean also got old calendars with castles and put them up on the wall. Elements and Principles of Design Videos (Gerald Brommer videos) by Dawn Stienecker
Here is a Substitute note for the Videos:
Good Morning Substitute,
I have requested a TV/VCR from the LMC. Please pick it up.
The video is the Principles of Design (or Elements of Design). It lasts approximately 30 min.
There is a handout (handout for Elements - handout for Principles - Note: You might want to include a question or two about the content of the video) – the top part should be done while the video is on so that they will pay a little bit closer attention.
The last part can be done after the video is over. This shouldn’t take more than the 10 or so remaining minutes.
Finally - on the back of the work page, please have them write down their favorite project from the video.
Have a great day Creative Advertisement Design by Phyllis Brandon
Materials: 8 ½” x 11” Plain White Copy Paper
9” x 12” White Drawing Paper
Pencil Art gum erasers
Color Markers or Color Pencils
Hand out the copy paper.
Students are to design an eye-catching magazine advertisement for one of the following: clothing, food, or a sporting event or equipment. Do NOT use real brand names (like NIKE.) Students are to make up a name for their brand of item. Prices need to be stated in the ad. Encourage the students to be as creative as possible with names, descriptions, and advertisements.
The planning is to be done on the copy paper in pencil. Then, when the students are satisfied with the design, they can get a piece of drawing paper and draw their final design on the white drawing paper. Entire surface of white drawing paper should be used and in color. No white backgrounds. Students are to leave white only items that they intend to be white in color. Designs will be graded according to creativity, neatness in execution, and how well they followed directions Original Comic Strip by Phyllis Brandon
Materials: 6” x 24” drawing paper strips
Pencils
Art gum erasers
Color Pencils
Give everyone a long piece of drawing paper. Show them how to fold in half, then in half again. When it is opened up, there are 4 sections.
Students are to create at least 3 characters and make up names for them. They are to compose a 4-part comic strip based on the 3 characters. The characters should interact and speak with each other. Students should enclose legible spoken words in a bubble.
All four parts should relate to each other and one section should contain a punch line. The entire four sections should be filled with the cartoon design.
Body parts should be drawn to fill the cartoon space-not just heads.
Students should color their cartoons with color pencils. Encourage the students to be as creative as possible with their cartoons, character names, and punch lines.
Comic strips are graded on originality, legibility, neatness, and good use of design components. Design an Art Museum - by Sara Green Draw a one point perspective room with frames on the wall and a sculpture table or case. Have the students design an art museum by drawing works of art in the frames drawn on the paper. You can suggest they use what they have learned in previous lessons or projects as a start, or you could leave postcards of famous art work. They can draw people looking at the work as well. At a higher level they could design a specific type of museum - a Picasso museum, a modern art museum etc. Suggestions from Linda Kieling
Jasper Johns' "Numbers in Color" inspired name design.
1. fold paper so that it makes a grid of squares
2. student writes name one letter in each box until page is filled
3. create a pattern in each square (can write lesson to be more specific like -unity by using color scheme, etc)
Create an Alphabet - all letters are inspired by a single theme (IE: beach theme C looks like conch shell, S like starfish)
From the Start - students have to start with a dot (or line or number) on their page, then they have to creatively disguise it within their composition. Upside Down Drawing from Lisa Ruiz
Having a sub in the art studio is always a planning issue. I teach 6-8 grade art at a visual and performing arts magnet and even though my students are familiar with the studio procedures there are still problems. They are adolescents after all and they will test the limits. I always lock up all materials when I am going to be out and I leave only the materials they will need for the activity that is planned.
I usually leave a drawing activity because all they will need are the instructions and pencil and paper. I try to make it as easy for the sub to manage as possible. I use several of the drawing activities in the drawing workbook by Betty Edwards, Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain. It's a companion workbook to her book. A favorite activity is the upside drawings. The kids love it and the subs usually sit down and do it with the kids. I get notes from them saying, "I didn't know I could draw like that."
In the workbook there are several contour drawings by famous artists and the instructions are to place the copy of the drawing upside down and draw your own contour. I have found that middle school students cannot leave the drawing upside down. They are too concerned with "getting it right" and they can't stand to have their paper or the drawing they are copying upside down.
Before I make the copies of the drawings for the kids I draw light, horizontal lines at one inch intervals all the way down the sample. I place 4 different drawings inside a 9 x 12 manila envelope. The drawings are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 (each drawing gets more challenging) and they are upside down. The students slide the drawing out of the envelope one inch at a time, using the horizontal lines as their guide. They draw only the portion of the image that is revealed as they pull the drawing out. They are told to record the lines and the negative shapes that they see as they reveal more and more of the drawing. I tape the envelope to the table so they cannot move it and the instructions are printed on the envelope. I have used this activity for 5 years. I have a file of master contour drawings and I change out the images when I need to use it again.
This lesson in drawing forces the students to turn off the critic in their head and get down to the business of recording what they see. If they cannot see the whole image it's easier for them to do. Once they have achieved success at the activity a few times they are more willing to use this trick on their own and they develop the confidence they need to take risks in the art room. The kids can't wait to show me how close their copy is to the original. They are so pleased with themselves and the sub has a good day in the studio as well. Dede-Tisone-Bartels Lessons - Good ideas - easy enough for a substitute
Series of basic art lessons. Geared to middle school level.
In a pinch? Try ART a Facts™ Magazine Source for Art Lesson Plans and Teacher Resources for Art Education Elementary and Secondary Level. Five issues each year - Comes in set of 30 copies. Homeschool issue also available (consists of one copy of each of the five issues). From Judy: I would recommend you order a copy for elementary and secondary for yourself (see Homeschool price - it is worth it!). Lessons are different for each level....Secondary can be adapted for lower grades, too. There is not much difference in reading level. Font is smaller on Secondary copy so there is more in depth information - also good for you to have. Internet resources are given as well as books. You can easily write up a hands on exercise for student to do after they are finished reading and discussing the magazine. Lessons for Middle School andSchool Hidden Squares by Randy Menninghaus See lesson plan. Randy has set this lesson up for substitutes. Squares are cut from ink drawings (approximately 1" in size) ahead of time. Students glue two or three squares (or irregular shapes) to drawing paper ( cut to 5" to 6" square) and camouflage them into a drawing using ball point ink. Randy suggests using ball point pens rather than pen and ink bottles. Playing Card Advertisement by Randy Menninghaus
Randy used the court or face cards of a deck of cards as a spring board... Students looked at cards first....Then discussed using a card to sell a product or favorite food. Using 12 x 16 white paper (rulers if you want for the border)... Students draw the two heads and pattern on clothes that relates to the product or food - first in pencil then black pen or a simple application of color... generally colored pencil. Forensic Drawing from San D Hasselman
I've done this project with my 9th graders, and it might work for you as sub plans and can be extended to multiple days as well. I take a folder (I make enough folders for 1/2 of the amount of kids in class) and put in a face that I have photocopied (from magazines, from online, from newspapers, etc). The face is big enough so that students can 'talk' about the features. I then give pairs of students each a folder. One becomes the 'police artist' and does NOT get to see the photo in the folder, the other becomes the poor crime victim (nothing violent...pickpocketing I usually say). The victim then describes the person in the folder and the "police artist" has to draw it based on the description given to him/her. What makes this interesting is
that I put in all kinds of faces, including a German shepard etc). The "victims" are not allowed to tell the "police artist" WHO the pickpocket was (if they can identify the picture, ie. Brittney Spears). These folders can be shuffled around the room so that multiple drawings can be done by different pairs of students. Police Sketch Artist from Heather Hayes
Heather used San D's idea that was posted to Getty TeacherArtExchange.
From Heather: Have the students partner up. One student will be the witness, and the other student will be the police sketch artist. I took 20 pictures and glued them onto tagboard (so the sketch artist couldn’t see through the paper), and then put them into envelopes labeled with the suspect number. The witness picks a suspect and describes the suspect to the artist. They can only describe – they can NOT show them the picture. They are allowed to look at the drawing, and offer suggestions to improve it. They may only show the original suspect picture AFTER the artist has finished his or her drawing. After they finished one sketch, the students switch roles – the artist is now the witness. They repeat the activity.
For my suspects, about half were photos of real people, and half were comic villains. I tried to pick “suspects” that had unusual features in order to make it a little easier to describe.
I hung up the original suspect picture and all the drawings of that suspect. I had my classes vote on which one was closest to the original picture. I gave a small reward to the winners.
See some examples from Ridgeview Middle School.
Cursive Name Aliens - from Patti Caiola
With the 4-6th graders I have used this lesson from www.kinderart.com , now it is one of my subs favorite lessons to do: Name Aliens and Monsters - Drawing - KinderArt . They actually have many good ideas for elementary - check it out.
with my K - 3rd graders we create a fuzzy animal of the day. Light browns and tan scraps on hand...Make a lion with a great big fuzzy mane made by layering smaller bits of torn paper for the mane, scraps for the ears, long torn shapes for the body and legs, etc. Make "Tear Bears" teddy bears
[[@../elem/elem45.html|http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/elem/elem45.html]]. (I did the fuzzy tear bears with my Kindergartners the first year I taught and they were very successful - so I decided to use the same technique for any type of fuzzy animal) Use black, white and tan to make fuzzy calico cats, or a spotted dog. The possibilities are endless. I use this as a fun one-day project to introduce the word "texture" into their vocabulary. Whichever type of animal you create, if you break it's body shapes down in to simple squares, rectangles, and ovals the kids catch on quick. They love to rip the paper, and when you rip the paper...there are no mistakes. You can always fix it by gluing pieces together on your paper. The finishing touch is to use a crayon to draw in their eyes, nose and mouth. If time allows, they can color in a background as well. This project took 45 min with my kindergartners, and my 3rd graders were able to complete the animal (as well as a background/sky) in 45 min.
Chasing Shadows - from Betsy Larson
[One day] I grabbed a book that I had, (Chasing Shadows). It is about shadows that look like monsters, but when you turn the page, it is really just something normal, like grandma putting up laundry. The pages have transparent windows that allow this visual game to work. We took two pieces of paper, one black and one white -both 6 "x 9" (15 x 23 cm) , and then drew an irregular shape on it- ( we reviewed this -- many suspiciously turned out like dogs....) Students had to cut out both shapes - then color the white one so that it became a person doing something, an animal, building, etc. and then they glued the shadow of it on one side of a 9x12 (23 x 30.5 cm) colored construction paper, and the drawing on the other side in the same place on the paper. Then they would ask me, " What do you think this is?" showing me the shadow side, and I always said a monster, and then they would giggle and turn the paper, and show me their drawing of a house, animal, person, etc. They thought this was so neat. Some of the best lessons come from 'out of the blue'. Samantha Willmoth adds: I can see using this (Chasing Shadows) in my classroom as a writing prompt for a lesson on adding details to liven up writing. Students could create the picture first, then write a story about how the nondescript shadow, is at first thought to be one thing, then turns into something totally different once the details of the shadow come into view. Or a science activity to help reinforce observation skills...
School Mascot - from Betty Bowen
Good for elementary. My students' favorite one day project is when I teach them how to draw the school mascot. Any drawing medium can be used.
Crayon Transfer Print - from Ann Heineman
Elementary. Using drawing or white copy paper, fold the paper in half, open and on the right facing page do a heavy coat of oil crayon in all kinds of colors. Overlap edges of colors, too. Refold the paper. Using a sharp pencil and firm pressure, draw an image (themes of your choice) on the top page. When you open the page, the drawing will be on the back of the top page in whatever colors it picked up from the oil crayon layer. My students always thought it was like magic and they would make several samples. Keep in mind that left/right orientation of letters will be reversed (to avoid this - draw on the back of the crayoned side and letters will be in right direction). It is a good one day project for many grades - introduces the idea of monoprint.
Packing "Peanut" Sculptures - from Jeryl Hollingsworth
Elementary level. Make sculptures with the packing material that dissolves in water (Test the packing material to see if it is the kind that will dissolve). I save it and give each table a box full and small pieces of tag board (or scrap mat board) for the base and small containers of water. Students dip both ends of the pieces in water and join together . You have to work slowly and not use too much water or it will melt completely. Students love doing it - it's like magic and it's free! I've had them make animals and really impressive buildings.
Independent Project for High School - Grace Hall
This is a project that I've done for many many years. It has proven to be a great way to keep kids interested, motivated, and on task the whole time they are in the art room. This is what my students work on when they complete their other assignments early. This is a way of allowing the student to make choices about what and how they create art. The assignment is given at the beginning of the year. They are assigned to do 2 or more per term, the first one due at mid-term, the second at the final. Students are encouraged to work on this project during any free time they have in my class, because I say they have no free time. If they do, then they have chosen to use time they could be working on their project. There is also a space on my rubric about using time wisely while in class. The Independent Project takes care of all kinds of objectives! [[../high/Grace-IP.htm|Lesson Plan on Incredible Art Department.]]
Chalk and Mountains - from Linda Woods Great for many grade levels. Use black 18x24 (46 x 61 cm) paper (or any color). Tear mountain shapes out of manila paper across the length of the page. Color along one inch wide of the torn edge, lay it on the black paper and rub down with paper towels to transfer the chalk to the black paper. Keep adding new layers down to the bottom of the page. Beautiful color overlays, everyone is a success. Variation of this - Make Pueblo dwellings. Cut rectangular shapes from manila paper to create the Pueblos. Use torn edges for landscape portion. Accent Pueblos with small windows and ladders. See the work of [[@http://web.archive.org/web/20070815182039/http://www.glenngreengalleries.com/_Artists/DanN/Dan Namingha_Paintings.html|Dan Namingha]] (Tewa/Hopi Artist) for inspiration for the Pueblo dwellings landscapes.Crowd of People from Linda Woods All faces, heads and bodies are different, including overlapping, pen and ink. Make up a situation/ environment/ event as you draw them.
Take a Line for a Walk - from Linda Woods Alone or with a partner. Make a line that curves, zigs and zags, has corners, etc. all around the paper. Turn the paper around until you see something that you can develop. Begin adding pattern, turn something into an elaborate eye, add more facial detail, add more pattern, keep going until the page is filled with pattern, thickened lines (from your original lines) to add emphasis, etc. Use for value studies or coloring if time permits. Pass the Drawing - from Linda Woods Fun for elementary and middle school. Circle drawing idea. Each person starts drawing something carefully on their page, not trying to fill up the whole page with a scribble, rather make a small interesting area. After one minute, pass to the left. Everyone adds onto the drawing that they just received. Themes may be suggested at first, like Pass the Monster, or Pass the Dwelling, or Pass the Fantasy Vehicle, etc. If drawing with themes, when the monster, dwelling, or vehicle are completed by any one child, environments may be added.
Pass the Collage - from Jeryl Hollingsworth Another version of the pass and draw lesson is a paper collage. Good to use up all the scraps. Each child cuts one shape and glues it. Pass the paper and the next child adds another shape. Usually they start to take on form and become something or end up really abstract which makes a good beginning for learning about that. Students could also be given a theme fro this fun assignment. More suggestions from Linda Woods
Small clay animals (this is particularly good to use as a practice macquette for a clay project - sort of like sketching in clay). Blind contour drawings of hands, feet, friends faces, shoes.
Roller Coaster and Skateboard Parks - from Jan Hillmer I let the kids create a roller coaster or skateboard park using all the leftovers of colored paper. I give them glue (put on a drip of glue - hold and count to 10 - rub a bit between fingers to create a bit of friction to make glue stick faster), one 9x12 (23 x 30.5 cm) of some weird color I can't use, and a few quick lessons on ways to join paper. Then let them go. They LOVE this project. You can require certain heights, or structure styles if desired. I've done this with K - 6 EL. Jan recommends putting out small nut cups of glue and Popsicle sticks for spreading to avoid waste. (From Judy: The science teacher in my former school do a roller coaster assignment with 8th graders - It is the most anticipated lesson of the year. They use Popsicle sticks and lot of Hot Glue Sticks
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. They they proudly await the test days for their marble runs.
Op Art Lines - from Denise Pannell This is good for grades 4 thru 6 (probably even 7th and 8th would enjoy it for a day). It might take them more than one day to finish depending on the size of the drawing. Op Art Line - Bridget Riley: Denise did an Op Art Line project using black Sharpies
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to make dots & lines. They drew a large rectangle on their paper & placed approximately twenty pea sized dots randomly on the paper. Then, beginning at the bottom of the paper, they drew horizontal lines, making a hump over each dot they encountered. They continued this until they reached the top of the box. The humps begin to form mounds that look like tunnels. They showed movement as well, like a Bridget Riley painting. Denise found this in a drawing ideas book Creative Drawing, Point and Line by Ernst Rottger and Dieter Klante.
Blow Paint Bugs - from Denise Pannell Fluorescent paint blown on to paper in blobs. Black Sharpie details added to the bodies.
Peace Doves- from Denise Pannell Look at Picasso's doves. Draw a dove using black marker on white paper. Add some lines radiating out from the dove. Fill in each area with pattern, leaving the dove white.
DRAW!- from Denise Pannell I write a sentence a the bottom of their paper & they illustrate it- black Sharpies and then colored pencil. Ex: My Messy Bedroom, Help! I'm Caught In A Video Game!, Princess Peony and Her Pet Frog Herman, Inside My stomach After Lunch, etc. (I have a huge list I made up) Kinda like the Anti-Coloring Books.
Mistake Paintings- from Denise Pannell Read the book "A Big Mistake" by Lenore Rinder about a girl who turns a blob of paint into a picture of a circus. They make a mistake on their paper, then trade with a neighbor, who must turn the mistake into something.
Styrofoam Plate/Marker Printmaking - from Jeryl Hollingsworth Here is one that is adaptable to many grades. Styrofoam printing plate stamps could be made to do the [[../middle/middle15.html|Islamic Pattern printing lesson]] that is on Incredible Art Department (glue Styrofoam stamps to blocks of wood). This great with 1st grade on up -- printing with Styrofoam plates and markers. We look at the Albrecht Dürer print of the rhinoceros and talk about the lines and patterns and shapes he used. They love the story about how his friend wrote him a letter about the rhino he saw on a trip to India and Durer made the wood cut without ever having actually seen a rhino. We talk about wood cuts. I have a huge supply of meat trays that I got new from a grocery store. They draw a simple animal with a dull pencil into the Styrofoam (add texture lines ) and then color over it with a marker. Press a piece of copy paper on the Styrofoam
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and rub. Magic - the picture appears! They love it even more if they use two colors of markers and stripe it (try some analogous colors). I left this lesson with a sub and she loved doing it.
Kindergarten - Letters of the Alphabet - from Jeryl Hollingsworth I do a lesson each week that correlates with the letter the kindergarten class is learning. When it is "r" week , I read them the book Plant a Rainbow or another rainbow book. I use the big paper roll and draw a large rainbow on blue paper. I write the color word in the correct place on the spaces (while the students are watching) This is stuck up on my dry erase board with magnet strips. Then the students cut pieces from magazines to fill up the rainbow. They love doing it and can usually fill up a good sized rainbow in 45 minutes. They use glue sticks (white glue would run). "H" day is paper hat day. They sure were proud of their Paper Hats. More letters of the alphabet to come.
Hand Design - from Tammi I had the kids trace a hand, then draw 5 lines anywhere on the paper (I left that open-ended. The lines could go from one edge of the paper to the other but didn't have to, the lines could be straight or curved, etc.) Then, they had to create a different design in each of the new spaces created. This can be done with markers, colored pencils, or crayons. Students can color if time remains. Students learn patterns and explore line. Good for any elementary grade.
Contour Name Design - Tammi One lesson my students love is the contour line name design. Write your name large on a sheet of paper. Choose 3 colors (skinny markers work best, but we've also done this with the twist up crayons). With one color, start on the left edge of the paper, about half way down, and draw a line headed toward the right side of the paper. When you are about to bump into your name, go up and around it, following the contour of the letters, then finish the line across to the right side of the paper. Pick a second color, and do this again but go on the bottom of the name. Continue the lines from left side to right side in a pattern using only the 3 colors (learn radiating line). I always have 2 samples to show - one completely finished with no space for any more lines, and one with about an equal amount of lines on the top and the bottom of the name to show that it can be a finished product even if you run out of time. If time remains, students could color the spaces between the lines.
Parts of Speech Mix Up - from TammiThis is a lesson for ALL grade levels - fun for high school, too. I've never tried this one yet, but it's in my bag of tricks... I'll get to it some day! Have each child write a noun (or be more specific and say it has to be an animal, or an object which can be found in a classroom, or whatever) on a slip of paper, a verb on another slip, and an adjective on a third slip of paper. Put them in 3 separate bowls and pull out one of each. The class has to attempt to draw it! Examples: slippery cat jumping, bumpy pencil running... Good lesson for colored pencils - or any drawing medium.
Create a Species - from TammiGood for elementary and middle school. Small group activity: Make groups of 5 (can be adapted to fit 4 or 6 instead as needed). Write the following on slips of paper for each group: head, body, tail, legs, wings. Each person in the group pulls out a word and draws ONLY that part of a new species of bird (this could be to create a new species of any kind of animal - doesn't have to be limited to birds). Cut out and glue together to make one bird (or animal). They can put the slips back in the bowl and draw words out again, continuing until clean up time - or until each member has an animal/bird. If you want equal groups and have students who are "left over" (or if you have a couple of kids who just don't work well in groups AT ALL), these extra kids can make background scenes or trees for the birds to all live on once they are completed. Students could use the mixed up animals then to refine for a drawing project (work on scale and proportion since having all students drawing individual parts probably end up not matching up to scale).
Contour Line Mazes - from Patti Caiola
Grades 4 thru 6 - I take small (2" [5 cm] squares) scraps of construction paper
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and hand them out to the students. They are to tear them into 3 pieces of any shape. They glue them down, away from the edges, onto a 9 x 12 (23 x 30.5 cm) sheet of white paper
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. Using fine point felt tip pens, the students begin to trace around the first shape....slowly. They gradually spiral out from that shape, keeping all of their lines as evenly spaces as possible (about 1/8" (3 mm) apart) until they "run into" their next torn shape. When they get to the next shape, they simply trace around that shape and continue on following the contour lines until they "run into" their third shape. These are a great exercise in self control, and fine motor skills, or how a line creates a shape, good intro to optical illusion art. Kids 4th - 6th love to do these and have great results. They can normally complete one carefully in about 30 mins. or so. The Shapes Our Hands Create - from Patti Cailoa
Grade K thru 6 - I have students trace their hands 3 times on a piece of 9 x 12 (23 x 30.5 cm) white paper with a pencil. They overlap their hands each time, trace right over the hand they just drew. I emphasize that they will get the best results if they overlap their fingers each time. Then they trace over their pencil lines with a marker (fine point, Crayola black crayons
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works in a pinch). When the tracing is complete, they are to fill in each space with a different color... much like a coloring book. They have to try and not color two spaces next to each other with the same color. This is a great exercise in planning out your design, discovering new types of shapes, etc. When all of the shapes are colored in (I have them use crayon to color) then they choose ONE color and completely fill in the background (large space around their hands) all one color. When completed, these look like modern stained glass windows. This I have tried with K - 6 and have had success with each grade...You just have to slow it down a bit with the little ones. The students can complete one design in approx. 45 min.
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[ MORE IDEAS | ONE DAY LESSONS | MIDDLE SCHOOL SUBSTITUTE PLANS ]
Art Portfolios from Susan on Long Island
Susan waits till NAEA Convention for her students to make their portfolios. You could pre-punch holes for the pipe cleaner handles - have students insert the pipe cleaners - fold - then reinforce pipe cleaner with colored tape (many art resource catalogs carry colored masking tape and colored "wet and stick" art tape). From Susan: All my students make portfolios with the sub. It's an easy same lesson for all with limited supplies: 36x24 paper folded, markers, pipe cleaners for handles, staple sides. We save them until the end of the year. They put all their year's art work in it and take it home in June.
Monsters all Around from Tammi
An easy one I did in a pinch last week for kindergarten was to have them trace a circle (I have a zillion butter tub lids and they love to trace things to practice this skill) and then trace their hand as many times as it will fit around the circle- like spokes coming out from it. Then they used crayons and markers to turn it into a monster. I told the sub that when they started saying, "I'm done!" she can tell them to draw the monster's friends, favorite toys, and food it eats in the background. When I returned, I found the monsters unfinished because she had a big discussion about facial expressions and how you can make your monster scary, happy, etc. I had to put off my next lesson because they begged me to let them finish their monsters! They did a great job putting patterns and designs on them.
Beasties Galore from Judy Decker
Imaginary beasties would work with all grade levels. See Linda Wood's Mixed Breed Lesson for
examples (these are finished major project by 5th grade). Of course, you would have different expectations for the younger students. My second graders had no trouble doing Eric Carle style beasties one year - so I know they can handle it. Might want to simplify to basic shapes for first graders - but I think they could handle it too (my second graders actually worked on their Eric Carl beasties a day I was out - the sub handled it beautifully - and even made a great sample for me to keep. She was a gem!). "Exquisite Beasties" - I have had students make beasties on a template where the body had to line up between two notches so we could cut them apart and make new animals. The head section of one - with the body of another - and the tail section of another. We made these one year to put in a book. It was my welcome fifth graders to the middle school lesson for that day (I had double the amount of students in my room - all of my sixth graders and all of their fifth grade shadows. I needed something that would work for all). See Exquisite Horse from Silver Buckle Press. (Note: "Exquisite Corpse" was a surreal parlor game).
Earth layers - patterns in nature by Judy Decker
Draw a cross section of the earth - making wavy lines to divide the differnt layers (maybe have some scientific illustrations handy).Dividing up into rows, putting a different pattern/texture in each row. This could be done with markers (fine point black marker for the lines and patterns. Could be colored with colored pencils or crayons, too. Layers could show bones and roots, as well.
Bad Hair Day by **Michal Austin** and **Sky McClain**
All grade levels (K thru 8) should be able to have fun with this idea. For Michal's "bad hair day" assignment, draw either a lady's or a man's face. Add hair, either atop the female's head, or the male's mustache and beard. The requirements for this lesson include drawing a minimum of 5 different values, and 5 different line patterns. The values are achieved through variations of line thickness and distance. The entire artwork is created using black permanent marker on 12"x18" white paper. (For a sub, you could use 9" x 12" paper so it will be easy to complete in one day). Sky's lesson has the student drawing a minimum of six different kinds of lines and repeating all around the head for hair. Check Michal Austin's Art Kids site for more great ideas - pictures and brief instructions included! Hey really have some fun with this! Play Bad Day in the Art Room by Greg Percy first. Remember -- things could always be worse (smile). Buy all three CD's -Songs in the Key of Art and never run out of fun in the Art Room!.
See how beautiful this lesson can be! Princeton Community Middle School See Ali!
Bad Hair Day meets Name Design! by Cathy Gaul
I tried Bad Hair Day meets the Name Design Art work folder project (by Bunki Kramer) as a combo. My 6th graders did a head, then used their names to do the beginning of Bad Hair. They either did fat letters or cursive writing around the hairline (like a rainbow) or out from the hairline like rays of the sun. Inside of the letter forms they did Michal's bad hair day patterns. They LOVED seeing both projects by other kids on Michal's and Bunki's websites, and were having a great time trying it as a combo project using sharpie markers in 4 different widths. One girl remarked that she thought the project by Ali (from Princeton Community Middle School) was more a GOOD hair day *grin*. Then I got out the gel metallic markers for finishing flourishes. They had just finished a value study on their posterized digital portraits and were having fun being a bit more creative. Have some more fun! Include meaning of names in the words (Behind the Name site by Mike Campbell. Mike does give art teachers permission to use his site with students)
Also see Bunki Kramer's Name Symmetry - Students as young as fourth grade can handle this lesson.
What's in a Crowd from Linda Wood
Have the kids draw a crowd of people in an unusual situation, like having a party in an elevator, for instance. Tell them you want them to draw everyone's face different, different ages of people, different clothes, different body positions, and you want their drawing to tell a visual story.
Cartoon style is fine. Emphasize differences and overlapping, lots of details...keeps them busy, and they have fun. Let them work on them in pairs for even more enthusiasm.
A Day at Kings Island (or any Amusement Park) by Ann Heineman
Since amusement parks are starting up for the season, a crowd of people on
those scary and spinning rides would be fun to visualize and draw, too.
Clowns Express Emotion from Amy
Grade 1: draw clown faces with oil pastels...white face and add make up. She do these on black paper then "frame them by gluing them to a bigger piece of bright paper and then have the kids draw a border on that.
Alternating Color Design from Amy
Grade 2 and 3: draw circles on a paper, draw vertical lines on the paper (through the circles) use 2 different colored markers....color the background (for example) pink and the circle (or the half circle) green in one stripe, color the background green and the circle pink in the next stripe. This is easy and clean and can be finished in about 40 minutes.
Susan Holland adds: The first time I saw this lesson with the circles and lines, I thought it sounded perfect and put it in my sub folder, but I have since found that it is not all that easy. It ends up taking my 4th graders two to three 45 minute classes. (so this one might be good when you are going to be out for more than one day)
Popsicle Stick Sculpture from Susan Holland
A sub lesson I like to leave for little guys K and 1 (after students are well versed in the procedure for it) is modeling clay with about 10 Popsicle sticks for each students. The students try to build standing structures. Another good source for sub lessons is www.kinderart.com. The lessons there are very thoroughly explained and many are 1 period lessons. See http://www.kinderart.com/drawing/
and http://www.kinderart.com/arthistory/abstractflowers.shtml
It's a Party from a Mouse's Eye View from Amy
Grade 4: Draw a party from a mouse's point of view....Draw all of the people feet only, with the legs and the rest of the body being so tall they come off the paper before they become anything more than legs.She uses this to teach vertical perspective (i.e. if the bottom of an object is higher than the bottom of something else, it is farther away). Extension: Have them draw their own shoes - A party that they would have. Exchange shoes and add their friend's shows to the fun.
Oaxacan inspired Alebrijes (Fantasy Animals) From: Brenda Robson
I showed a Crizmac video on Oaxacan Indians (Oaxacan Woodcarving: Innovation Meets
Tradition) then had the kids draw an exaggerated animal of their own on black paper with oil pastels. They liked that from K-8th! Great idea for Middle School, too. Construction paper crayons would work too. (video available from Crizmac Art and Cultural Education Materials)
Amusement Parks - Marble Runs from Ellen Sears
Right now my 5th graders are creating marble runs - kinetic sculptures...
they beg for it all year, and I save it for our testing cycle - strips of poster board, a demo on construction techniques (scoring, tape etc...) and they are off. (Note from Judy: A science teacher in my building had the students make marble runs with Popsicle sticks - needed several hot glue guns for this)
The younger students use paper strips to create a 3-D amusement park - same construction techniques - and then draw the model with people and surroundings -
"While You Were Out" from: Ellen Sears
I leave books to go with lessons - "While You Were Out" and pictures of Painted Ladies - then they draw their own house with the new color scheme - or any building... you could also have magazine pictures of structures that they can color over. More ideas: Mixed-Up Chameleon - Matthew's Dream
Symmetrical Design from Betsy Larson
Symmetrical designs using markers and white napkins (gives four way design). Keep napkin folded and use markers to create design - unfold when done. Kids love it!. Idea came from Getty TeacherArtExchange list (now TeacherArtExchange)
Amy adds: This also works great with coffee filters.
Texture Rubbing Creatures From Sandy Bacon
I recently used a lesson found here on the list. See Linda Wood's lesson on Eric Carl animals. The children are given a topic or theme. I used a mythological/medieval creature. They used all
kinds of different papers and texture rubbing plates (see Sax catalog pg. 406) to create an Eric Carle style creature. First read Eric Carle's Dragons Dragons: & Other Creatures That Never Were book. I had a sample done and the lesson went very well according to the sub. The kids really had a good time creating.
**Hog Wild Metal Magnetic Sculptures** from Linda Wood
Linda has many different learning centers to use as back-up plans. One is Hog Wild Metal Sculptures - the kids really go to town creating unusual creative pieces (think Picasso and other cubist sculptors). These are all temporary as after a few days, they are disassembled and put back into the boxes for others to use. Linda has purchased several sets and mixed them all into one center. See Hog Wild page for more information.
Plasticine Clay by Judy Decker
One idea that worked for me was to have Plasticine clay (one color per child only) in small butter dishes - one per child (you could use Baggies, instead I suppose). I had some simple tools available in cans - one for each table (just Popsicle sticks and some simple wooden tools -nothing dangerous). I had torn out enough fabric backed wall paper samples for each student to use as a placemat. This was particularly helpful if I was going to be out during a ceramics lesson and didn't feel the substitute would be able to handle the students being at all different stages of completion in a project. This was an idea I got from Linda Lehman of Bath Elementary.
Create a Coloring Sheet - by Sky McClain
Another fun substitute plan is to have them draw a picture on Xerox paper using pencil only. It has to be just an outline because a few of the best ones will be chosen by me (on my return) to be Xeroxed and then they will be used as coloring sheets for all my other classes to color. I print their name clearly on the bottom so everyone can see who did it. I keep these coloring sheets in a box lid in the art room next to the cans of markers. They can be colored if the children finish their art project early. Sometimes I suggest a theme like dinosaurs or favorite cartoon characters or summertime fun. They must fill the page with lots of interesting things to be colored or else it won't be chosen.
Shapes and Things by Ellen Sears
I have left for grades 2-7. I left the book 'Shapes and Things' by Tana Hoban - a book of photo grams along with a bucket of kitchen utensils.
Two assignments I have left are:
1. Draw one object 5 times - 1 complete, and four coming onto or going off of the page
2. Divide the paper into 6 unequal sections. Draw the silhouette in one section to fill... Abstract the object in each of the remaining sections by - multiplying, dividing, adding, subtracting, stretching...
They can use markers to add pattern in negative or positive, warm and cool, complementary...
Design a T-Shirt by Jean Womack
Jean has been substituting in the San Francisco area. One very professional art teacher I worked with gave the kids an outline of a T-shirt and asked them to design their own T-shirt. Then she had them add the pants and arms, legs, and head. That would be good for one or two days.
Castles Dragons and More by Jean Womack
Another great teacher was gone for a week. She left a very elaborate lesson plan where they were supposed to draw a castle, from a handout. Then add dragons, trees, etc, all from the handout. And draw lots of detail. She said they love castles. She drew one on the board that was awesome. Jean showed Cinderella or Snow White or one of those Disney movies that have castles in it (you might want to check with the school policy on showing Disney videos - maybe show a segment of the video). She told them that Disney people made a lot of money drawing castles. Jean also got old calendars with castles and put them up on the wall.
Rainbow Fish - idea by Michal Austin
This could work for grades K thru 2. Read Rainbow Fish http://www.geocities.com/theartkids/ Students draw large fish to fill 9 x 12 white paper - Make interesting patterns (could show Paul Klee print of Goldfish - and one of Fisherman), outline heavily with black crayon. Color in sections heavily with crayon. Use watercolor wash in negative space (could wait and do watercolor when teacher returns). Add a glitter glue accent to some scales
Elmer Again - idea by Michal Austin
This could work for grades 1 to 2- http://www.geocities.com/theartkids.l Have sub read story "Elmer Again" by David McKee - You could have a 1' gridded paper run off for the checkerboard. Students begin coloring the checker board the day you are off - finish when you return.
Design Money - from Sara Green (for elementary and middle school)
Copy dollar bills and distribute them to the tables. You could copy money from other countries if available. Discuss the design- center, border etc. Tell the students they are designing the new money for their new country. They name the country, they design the symbols and designs. You can cut 41/2 x 12 inch pieces of paper for the sub ahead of time.
In a pinch? Try ART a Facts™ Magazine Source for Art Lesson Plans and Teacher Resources for Art Education Elementary and Secondary Level. Five issues each year - Comes in set of 30 copies. Homeschool issue also available (consists of one copy of each of the five issues). From Judy: I would recommend you order a copy for elementary and secondary for yourself (see Homeschool price - it is worth it!). Lessons are different for each level....Secondary can be adapted for lower grades, too. There is not much difference in reading level. Font is smaller on Secondary copy so there is more in depth information - also good for you to have. Internet resources are given as well as books. You can easily write up a hands on exercise for student to do after they are finished reading and discussing the magazine. Reading level is probably grade 4 and up. Substitute could read to lower grades.
Middle School and High School - Elementary Art Games
Many of these ideas are adaptable for different levels.
's Un-Birthday Party - submitted by Christa Wise
My high school. students have a lot of fun with an un-birthday party. They randomly draw an artist's name from a "hat." They must look up this artist and read enough about him/her that they can come up with six items that would make good gifts for the artist. They wrap the six presents in a box that is constructed/painted in the artist's style. At the "party," each student opens his/her box and explains why these items would be appreciated by the artist and show examples of the artist's work to help everyone understand the style of the wrapping for the present. Naturally we also have cake and milk.
For instance: In a clear plastic box with black electrical tape edges ("beams,") a student presented the International School work of the architect Philip Johnson (best known for his glass and beam home in Connecticut). Included were a small set of blueprints, round black eyeglasses (his signature look), and other stuff I don't remember. In the Monet box we found a small Japanese bridge, artificial water lilies, and sunglasses that this "plein aire" painter would have found useful. Renoir got arthritis cream among other stuff, Frank Lloyd Wright got blocks, and Mary Cassatt had a baby doll.
I think this kind of project requires the students to read and use higher order thinking skills to synthesize what these artists might have valued in their lives -- maybe makes them more real than a report often simply down-loaded from the internet. Adapting the style of the artist to the wrapping for the present is a different spin on the time-honored assignment of working "in the manner of" a famous artist.
We display the final pieces with a small 3 x 5 (7.6 x 12.7 cm) card next to each of the six present items to explain why these things were chosen for the box. There is a lot of interest in looking at each others' presents, and I think this is a pretty good way to expose students to a lot of artists at once. It isn't deep, but I think it is pretty effective and fun!
Christa added in a separate email: Sometimes I do this before visiting an art museum. I choose artists whose work we will be seeing getting everyone a little familiar. When kids split in groups, there are four "experts" on four artists in every group.
Sara Gant did the Unbirthday lesson with her students and they had a party to celebrate. From Sara: The kids did do birthday invitations to teachers who had planning periods at that time, as well as admin/office people etc. I had one class doing it. I brought in a cake and they brought drinks, brownies, cookies, etc. The birthday presents truly showed that the students were making connections and had learned about their artist. One boy did Dali and had put a mustache trimmer in his box....Someone else did Keith Haring and had put a condom in it- knowing full well the artist had died of Aids. See Sara's Lesson plan
Artist's Trading Cards - submitted by Christa Wise
Before taking an overnight trip to Chicago, I had students choose a topic from my list (of stuff I knew we'd see). Each student had to make four trading cards, like baseball cards, for their topic. We had a standard template they could find on the computer. We printed up all the cards (30 students times four -- 120 cards) and made a set for each of the participants.
Then, when parents were present at the at final details meeting before the trip, we had students sit with their roommates (four to a group) and had a Quiz Bowl about the facts on the cards. The winning team were declared kings/queens of the trip, and got to have "first pick" of everything --where to sit on the bus, bigger candy bars at break, choice of rooms.
It was good preparation and gave them a lot of information. We had lots of carry-over, students spieling off information from the cards to impress docents or peers. It got to be a game.
See sample cards (PDF's): Sample front showing photograph/portrait and image Sample front (no images) Sample back - You just need a blank template for inserting the information on the back of the cards.
Sample template and box pattern - from Chia's Rubber Stamp Art
Gallery Talk - submitted by Marcia in Illinois (see also Living Painting)
I use drama with my senior studio class. Each year they create and perform Living Paintings at the Student Art Show opening. (See examples of the integration of art and drama) They act (as the figure in the painting) in tableau in front of their (life-sized) painting while another student "docent" talks to the audience about the artist and the time period. This information has been researched by the "docent" and the art student. We perform this as if it were a "Gallery Talk", moving from painting to painting. My friend, the Drama teacher, has her class help with costuming, props and dialogue. We spend one month on these for 2 hrs. of performance. We haven't ever really linked this to the State Standards in Art or Drama - but I know we should. (Note from Judy - There are many connections to the art curriculum. Marcia is going to try to get images to share the next time she does this)
Acting the Part - submitted by Marvin Bartel
Many students enjoy acting out something about an artist. Students form small groups. Each group selects an artist from a list of names supplied by the teacher. They research the artist and prepare a short skit. After the skit they hand out review sheet for the class or post a poster for the class to review. The skit can be like a talk show interview or the artist in her studio explaining a painting she did. The group can discuss a large reproduction or a projected image based on a prepared script. The actor playing the artist answers questions about her sources of ideas, composition, difficulties, special interests, her own childhood, her training, and so on.
Living Paintings - submitted by Renee Berge
My 8th graders did a "Living Art" project. There is a professional group in Laguna Beach, California that does this type of production. Sunday Morning did a feature on it. I wrote CBS and they sold the segment to me for $20. It was worth it. The students picked a painting, usually with people in it. They research the artist, interpret the painting and write a paper as a group of 2 to 5 students. They then recreate the painting in large format, they create the background with a variety of materials and then put themselves as the characters into the famous artwork by creating costumes. The students set up there background and props then pose for 5 minutes as a curtain is lifted to show them. One student is picked to narrate the history of the artists and explain why the artist created the work. We entered a contest at a museum for middle school and high school students. My favorite rendition was the Three Musicians by Pablo Picasso.
Sara Gant did Living Paintings for her Art Night. The student were a huge success. See Living Paintings by Nancy Walkup.
Life Size Figures - Artist Research - from Barbara Andrews
Level: Middle school - high school (adaptable to upper elementary)
Collect a number of corrugated boxes for this. Students can work in groups. For more permanent sculptures - make wood boxes (collaborate with the Industrial Technology classes).
Students research an artist and art style that has figurative work. Students also research Marisol Escobar.
Students assemble boxes (these are life size figures) - apply layers of paper mache - paint with a base coat. Select a figure from one of the paintings of your selected artist. Paint the figure on all side of the boxes (showing front - side and back views of what the figures might look like). Note: two students painted American Gothic as basketball players for their school... so students do show some creativity. For wood boxes - students can use house paints making them more permanent (priming with a good oil base primer). Wood sculptures can be displayed on the school grounds.
Note: Barbara gets house paint donated from local hardware and paint stores. They do a lot of mural painting in the community. She began her student centered class with one class and now has five periods a day. Offering student centered art has made scheduling nightmares go away. Students can repeat the class year after year. All levels are in the same period. Students are highly motivated.
Bi-fold Painting - Artist Research - submitted by Renee Berge
Another project I really liked for art history research was a bi-fold with a mirror on one side, the students painted a portrait of the artist on one side and it reflected in the mirror. Around the mirror was a 3" border and the students recreated bits and pieces of the artist into a collage painting. For example, one student picked patterns from a variety of Matisse's painting and used them. On the back of the bi-fold was a biography of the artist. (See example on Renee's Web Page.)
**Art History Timeline** with **Artist Research Paper** - submitted by William Van Horn
Artists Poster - submitted by Kimberly Hutts
An idea that I think I got from the NAEA Conference is to have them do research "posters" instead of papers. I offered this to my Jr. high students as extra credit last year. They were required to research an artist and type up a short biography as the main part of the poster. They also had to include a small print of a work of art created by that artist, a time-line of important events during the artist's life, a picture of the artist, either an informal critique of the work of art that they included or historical information about that work of art and a list of references on the back of the poster. I graded of accuracy of information, readability, neatness, composition of poster, and inclusion of all required components.
**Artist Poster Lesson** - submitted by Dorothy Morris **Artist Research Worksheet**
**Artist Research - Accordion Fold Book** - submitted by Kara LiCausi
**E-Reports Web Pages** - submitted by Lazelle Parker
Assignment: To create an electronic report about a 19th or 20th century artist.
· Each individual "website" has a page of biographical information, a page analyzing an artwork by the featured artist and a page for the bibliography as well as "About the Webmaster".
· The students used the links provided on the Art History Research Links page to fill out a worksheet.
· For the design of their web pages, they used images from sites found on the Webmaster Info and Links page.
Cross Curricular Art History Research - submitted by Stephanie Corder
Students select an artist of their choice, research, then create a composition of an area of their school "in the style of" the artist of their choice. They write a report to share with the class. Shown: Welcoming Stairway in the style of Chagall
Materials:
Open media (within reason)
18 x 24 (46 x 61 cm) Paper
Visual resources/prints for a variety of artists from several time periods
Modern Movements - submitted by Dawn Stein
Day 1 - Students visually sorted postcard images of each of 6 time periods. Child Sized masterpieces (below) has good sets of images if you don't already have a collection.
· How to Use Child Size Masterpieces
· Child-Size Masterpieces for Step 5: Learning About Famous Paintings
Day 2 - I had the students break into groups and do online research in the LMC. (I have the gathering info sheet they used at school - let me know if you're intested in it)
Day 3- Students worked together to created a poster for their art movement - that would be used by them to introduce the movement to the rest of the class. They had additional text resources available for continuing the project.
Days 4 and 5 - Students worked on ways to present the info in the spirit of Gardner's MI theory; meaning they could use anything they wanted to present the info. Rap, Newspaper edition, Newscast, Act out a image. (I think most teachers would be uncomfortable with this much leeway. I also plan to have a booklet available to tell them specifically how to go about each option, with job roles.)
Week 2 - They made a 5 -10 minute presentation and then I followed up with a project that was made in that style.
Slide Jam (BC Periods) - submitted by Dawn Stein
When I introduced the BC art periods, I found that most of them had a pretty good feel for the work (we have an awesome History/Social studies dept apparently!) So, I broke them up into groups, they did some reading and then we had a "slide jam"
Students sat in their groups (so they could communicate with each other) and I showed a work of art. If they claimed the art period's slide, they got a point. (I also asked why it belonged or didn't belong) If they missed one that belonged to them, they lost a point. Another group could also get a point for recognizing the period it actually belonged to. They also lost a point (or maybe two) for guessing the wrong one. A student kept a tally of points for me.
They seem to like anything that's competitive in 6th grade. They really had fun and wanted to play this one again.
Sentence Puzzle/Scramble - submitted by Janet
One thing I did once was type up the information about the artist I wanted the kids to know, then cut the paper up into strips and numbered them. As the students entered, I handed each student a strip. The stood in a line, in order and took turns reading the information. I also had a complete handout for them to put in their folders.
6 Traits Workshop Ideas - submitted by Kimberly Herbert (also for elementary)
You take a passage about any subject, format it so each sentence has one line, and cut them apart. The students work in groups to put the passage back in a logical order. Another activity that they showed us that can be adapted for any subject is also fun and incorporates writing. The teacher makes a list of facts, non-facts (false facts), and opinions about a subject. Students work in groups to organize the bits into the proper categories. Then they individually write a paragraph using only the facts.
Scavenger Hunt - submitted by Michal Austin (also for elementary)
I have my students go on a scavenger hunt - put up several reproductions and a list of things to find. Or, put up one painting and have them see who can come up with the most objects that can be seen in the painting.
I like to break up the info into smaller chunks, and include children's books whenever possible. It is amazing how even the most jaded high schooler will sit and listen quietly to a picture book - I usually open with a "just humor me on this, ok?". Picasso can be introduced with "When Pigasso Met Mootisse," Van Gogh has several books written about him, and more books about different artists are coming out all the time. I am planning on sharing several of these with my high school students and having them write and illustrate some children's books about different artists. Paul Harvey always has interesting tidbits about different artists. Students love the gossip and memorable stories about artists - I like the book "Artists, their lives and what the neighbors thought" (title may not be accurate).
"Blind Date" (from NAEA presentation by Diane Asay) - Kimberly Hutts
"Let's Get Visual: Using Images in Art Classes" presentation by Diane Asay - "Blind Date": Using prints with figures as their main subject matter. Ask students to speculate as to what it would be like "if these two went on a blind date." ~ Kimberly Hutts
Maggie White adds - I've used her "blind date" idea with my art history classes and it's a lot of fun. My favorite couple are David and Judith (who assassinated Holofernes). Both were ordinary Jews who did something heroic to save their people, though by different means. Pick out any two famous works of people and send them on a blind date.
Naming tables after famous artists (submitted by a number of teachers)
Name the tables where your students sit after different artists then study those artists over the course of the year. Many teachers change those names each year. Each table would do an independent study of their artist and then present to the class sometime through out the term. Put artist names in a hat to see who goes first - second and so forth. Provide a lot of help for the first group to get the ball rolling. Less help will be needed for the next groups. Maybe even have each group present a brief hands on lesson? Set up learning centers in your classroom for each artist. If possible, provide web page resources. See Woody Duncan's Table Artists pages. Assign one lesson where students develop their OWN project inspired by their table artists. This might be a culminating lesson towards the end of the term.
French Cafe - submitted by Jeremy Wehlan
My area is drama so that would be my solution and I have an idea for you....
That was a very interesting period (Surrealism was the topic) in art and almost everybody was in Paris at the time. I've been teaching for twenty years so I know that classes are made up of kids with mixed ambitions, some are driven and others coast. If you can get some of your more ambitious students to each pick an artist that was living in Paris at that time, or not, just an artist from the time, who maybe went to Paris. Get them each to pick one artist and to do some basic research on that artist, read a biography or something like that. They all had attitudes about each other, some were friends, others hated each other. Then fake a French cafe set in the classroom and have them do an "improv" as these characters inhabit the cafe. Don't forget the costumes, that is a real selling point. It can be as simple as a scarf, a hat, a cane, etc., but any attempt at costume adds a level of excitement/fun that should not be missed. If the other students get excited by the idea, let them find another artist of the time or even before that time, just an artist with an attitude and let them join in. It could be a once a week thing. Everyone can get into the act as bartenders, waiters, dancing girls, etc. More ideas can be found on Jeremy's Website.
Interview a Famous Artist - from Harold Olejarz
Famous Artist Interview Projects - Students selected and researched a famous artist. One of the students played the artist and another interviewed the artist. See the student videos on Harold's site
Shoe Box Gallery - submitted by Kathleen Arola
Lesson plan by Laura Shifflett- Students study an artist via the Internet and collect images. They create a mini gallery of the work.
Artist Game - Art History Research - submitted by Jeannie Sandoval
Jeannie Sandoval sent in this link http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/gameboard.htm
You can print off this template - or have students design their own.
I can see this working as a group artist research project. Teachers can pre-select a list of artists for the students to consider. Each groups picks a different artist from the list.
Divide the students into groups of three. Make the game boards with spaces in three different colors. One student will write questions about the life of the artist -- those will be keyed to one color of the board. Another student will write specific questions about the art of the artist - and that will be a different board color. The third group member writes questions about the times of the artist (world events and artist's contemporaries). Maybe have each student come up with ten questions (some may be eliminated by group discussion)
Some questions could even have a bonus! - The students take a trip to the gallery and select a small laminated print to keep featuring a noted work by the artist. Maybe even have a fourth pile of cards that are more challenging questions - student gets to move double spaces if answered correctly.
The group decides on game colors and the design of the three piles of cards. Students read over all the questions written and select the best ones for printing (integrating technology). The group also settles on a token design.
After the project is finished - Groups exchange games for a day to play. Students can easily make copies of the games to take home. The original game is laminated and kept in the art room for other classes to play.
Ideas
Letter to the Artist - submitted by Kathleen Arola
This is good for elementary through high school. I think it would be really fun to have kids address envelopes to past or present famous artists (either the same artist for the whole class, after studying that person's work, or different artists for everyone, after individual research, depending upon the grade level). The envelopes could be covered with designs inspired by the artist to whom each one is addressed. If time permitted, letters could be written to the artists (either before or after designing the envelopes) and placed inside them. The letters would have to show an understanding and knowledge of the artist's work by the questions that are asked.
Added by Judy Decker: Oh definitely do the letter too! students would have to write the letter referring to things from the artist's life.... Like pretend Vincent just got to Arles... and ask if he has settled in and where. Ask if he has heard anything from his Gauguin....Tell him you heard the Sun flowers are gorgeous around there - ask him if he has considered painting them....Kids would have to be familiar with that area of France, too, and ask if he has been to such and such a place yet....Ask if he has met a "friend" of theirs - the postman -- and so on. Maybe the first year - do all the same artist for your own sanity. Have groups do different time periods in the artist's life.... Like Picasso - so many different styles!
Some could even do his young work as a kid - like be a "pen pal" - Pretend that they are answering the last letter they received - so students would have to figure out what Picasso (or whoever) would have written to him/her first. The artist might have said "I just finished such and such a painting....and give a thorough description...Older students could actually write two letters - one from the artist and one to the artist. You could give guidelines like: Letters must include description of at least one major work. Letters must include date/time period - location - three facts about the artists life. Make similar requirements for what the should should share about them - Maybe include three facts (in a creative way) about their location from the same time period. What was going on in USA (or your country) when Picasso was growing up?
Artist on a Box - from Sandy Jahnle
(In response to the envelope idea) My students used boxes in a similar way this past year -- students did their research on an artist and their product was a six-sided box with a drawn example of the artist's work on one side, a short bio on the second side, and the other four sides were devoted to Description, Analysis, Interpretation, and Judgment of the art. See the following website for more ideas: http://www.kcsd.k12.pa.us/~projects/critic. This idea is suitable for elementary through high school.
**Dress up as the Olde Masters** - lesson plan by Valerie Kerwin
Putting on an Act (Matisse) - submitted by MaryAnn Kohl
This is something MaryAnn did for a young artists conference in Ferndale, Washington. She had four different groups of kids, from age K-6. They wanted her to focus on a great master, and do an art project in that style. She chose Matisse, because she has always loved his paper cut-out phase. When the kids entered the room, she was dressed as Matisse, sitting up in bed (his last years were such), cutting paper and talking about "his" art. Then they did some paper cut-outs as a follow up. She also showed them some pictures of Matisse and his work. She found some beautiful quotes from Matisse that were part of her dialog.
Like:
· Matisse draws blindfolded and says, "I wanted to see if I had the image in my fingers."
· "My drawing effort (cutting paper) is flowering after 50 years of effort."
· Matisse draws in the air before drawing on the paper, saying "When my hand makes a strange journey of its own, it is that I had not yet begun to sing."About being bedridden: "I can't get up any more. So I had my bed moved to the largest room in the house, and here I work." He is covered with a yellow blanket with red flowers. Working with large scissors, he cuts away at paper. He tapes charcoal to a fishing pole and draws on the ceiling and wall.
· He once said, "I feel all the curiosity of a traveler in a foreign land. I go forward totally in my expression of color."
· About cutting paper, "I am like a medieval sculptor carving into stone." and "With only scissors and paste, I set a dancer free."
· Having drawn his grandchildren on the ceiling over his bed, "I drew my grand children on the ceiling today., They keep me company."
· When asked if he would go back to painting. "I have plenty of time for that - I'm only 83!"
Other quotes:
· My work is like peering into a mirror that is steamed over.
· Copying objects is nothing. One must express feelings!
· My life is an effort that stems from my search for the truth.
· I want my art to fill rooms with gaiety, a place to make people happy.
Naming tables after famous artists (submitted by a number of teachers)
Name the tables where your students sit after different artists then study those artists over the course of the year. Many teachers change those names each year.
From Linda Woods:
I bought 6 books for my table artists that have full page illustrations. I determine my table artists each year on what post card collections I find, or what book I find to cut up. Not too scientific. This year my table artists by "default" are O'Keeffe, Escher, Seurat, Renoir, Matisse, and Audubon. I cut out six foam core shapes, spray painted them glossy black, drilled holes for hanging, and splashed each artist's name on them in silver with some zippy little pattern backgrounds. I'm hanging two back to back illustrations from these books from the foam core with fishing line. From the bottom of the posters, I am dangling cutout words relating to each artist. These will hang over each table to give my table groups "identity." My bulletin boards will be more pages cut from these 6 books and all about the table artists. On my first day, we'll play some game about the table artists briefly.
Last year's artists were Van Gogh, Picasso, Kahlo, Botticelli, Degas, and Vermeer.
Suggested "First Day Games" for table artists:
1. Artist "Scavenger Hunt" (submitted by Michal Austin) - Come up with a list of things they need to find in the paintings/works you have on display. Have them work in teams. The first team to find all gets a reward - like each member will get a small laminated mini print of their table artist (I am giving you permission to make prints from your resources for this purpose) -The prizes could be postcard size - with info about the artist, a self portrait or photo and image info on the back). Now - the problem is - you won't know who will win so have no clue what prints to make up in advance. My answer to this would be to have a page of digital images printed off for each artist and let the kiddies who win pick out the one they want (four on a page for each artist - just four would be enough)...They will order their prize....so maybe have an arty treat too as an immediate reward.
Got any Sax product freebies? or fancy pencils?
2. Letter/Email to the artist (idea submitted by Kathleen Arola). Have each team come up with a series of questions they have for their table artist. Look at all questions each group came up with at the end of the day....Select five or six per artist and then set up an email account for each one on Yahoo (Can you Yahoo from school? Many schools have Yahoo mail blocked). Use the same password for each Yahoo account OKeeffe@yahoo.com - Matisse@yahoo.com and so forth (you might find that some may already have Yahoo accounts. You will email the artist from your own school account. When the kiddies aren't around - you would work on answering their questions (even call upon the art ed list experts to help if you are stumped - some list members may be "experts" on certain artists) - then mail back the answers -- and include a book (from your library) - or web sites where they can find out more. You might consider getting a parent volunteer to be the artist and have the parent volunteer send the email (make sure the questions you give them are ones the parents can easily find answers to). This was sparked by seeing Kathleen's letter post - I added the technology twist to do email. Naturally - I would like to put a sample series of questions ( a student sample letter) and answers on IAD for this. Each kid could write a letter to the artist and decorate the envelope "in the style of" (a self directed lesson - no added teaching on your part - you just provide the materials - colored pencils. crayons and.or markers would be easiest to monitor).
Linda reinforces her Table Artists everyday - From Linda: Sometimes I tell my kids to do things as they walk to the door...things that have to do with their table artists. For example, one of the posters I have on the wall for Escher is the Waterfall where the river flows uphill on a rooftop. One day I told them to move like a river flowing backwards to the door. one day I told them to turn from day into night as they walked to the door. I told the Renoirs to dance a waltz to the door. On another day I told them to pinch their cheeks till they were really rosy and walk in their most elegant clothes to thedoor. The Matisses had to form a group organic shape while holding hands as they walked to the door. One day the Matisses had to walk in a pattern to the door. O'Keeffes had to walk like a skeleton to the door, slither like a desert snake to the door, and one day had to hold GIANT flowers as they walked to the door. The Seurats had to pretend to ride on a circus horse to the door, imagine that their feet were paint brushes and paint a dotted line to the door. Audubons have had to quack to the door, fly to the door, and pretend to be taxidermied as they walked to the door. They love that game. (Linda comes up with all of these ideas on the spot - she has shared many more with me).
Artist Activity Cards - submitted by MaryAnn Kohl
I've just posted some "art activity cards" for the regular elementary classroom, though may be used in art rooms as well. The cards are taken from my book, Discovering Great Artists, and you have permission to print them one time for classroom use, but not for distribution (please). Go to: http://www.brightring.com/ - choose "Activity Cards" - Download pdf file
Note from Judy: These would be great for your "Free Time" Art Days. Print out these Art History Activity cards and laminate them. Add to them with some of your own favorite artists. Place cards in your various media centers.
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MORE IDEAS - 1 DAY LESSONS **MOTIVATING LESSONS** **ELEMENTARY SUB**
Substitute Plans and Time Fillers for Middle School - for **High School**
Lesson: Flip Book Faces
Submitted by **Melissa Speelman**
One of my most fun and successful sub plans has been based on the book "Making Faces" by Norman Messenger.
If you are not familiar with the book, it is filled with front and side views of faces, some very strange. Each section of the book flips to create new and even stranger faces. There is also a "celebrity" version of the book.
The book is the same size as legal paper (8.5"x14"). What I do is trace the sections of the book as well as a few lines of the heads to show students where their drawings must cross over in each section. This ensures that the faces they draw will line up with everyone else's drawings. I photocopy the template onto legal size paper for everyone. Students create their own face (colored pencil), I laminate them and bind them together. Once bound, I cut on the lines separating each section allowing students to flip and change the faces.
The students love creating and looking at these faces. Many students create multiple faces. This year I created a second template for the side view of the face. Then I ask students to create a side view that matched their front view. This proved to be pretty challenging for some. I make templates -- The templates are very easy to make yourself since the format of the book is legal size. Just a note, I photocopy the template for everyone very lightly so that the guide lines are almost disappear once drawing and coloring is complete.
Flip Book Alternative - by **Linda Wood**
Suitable for many grade levels. I have done "Head, Body, Feet" flip books for years. When I do my books, I have kids work in groups to create a larger book in less time. They work in groups of 3. At first they line up 3 sheets of 3 x 4 paper vertically and make a mark at the edges where each joins...between the top two sheets, they mark the width of the connecting neck on top and middle paper, on the bottom and middle edges, they mark where the body transitions into legs or whatever means of getting around they dream up! Then they trace these marks (measurements) on lots of other pieces of paper. Then they go to work...one person dreams up all sorts of ridiculous heads and necks, another designs lots of random bodies with lots of details, the 3rd kid designs the "legs", which might be carrots, tree trunks, real legs, animal legs and feet, etc. The heads and bodies can be human or animal, too. The only important thing is that they remember their original measurements in their drawings, as later, they all have to join up. When we are tired of drawing (usually about 3 or 4 days), we put them together in booklets and kids have fun looking at each other's wacky combinations. It's great for a sub, also great for an end of the year, fun, "mindless to the teacher" activity that kids love. So much to do in the little classroom prior to closing up shop. I always try to do something like this at the end that is pressure free!
Flip Book Alternative- by **Bunki Kramer**
I have done two lessons similar with your "faces". When we were doing our "Screamer" classes (monster-making), during the drying times we made monster flip books like your face book. It was a great time-filler between drying times and one they could always return to. I had forgotten all about this lesson and glad you brought it up. I particularly like the idea of laminating and binding them. We just used the old fashioned stapled way.
Lesson: Changing Cubes - Funny Faces
Submitted by **Bunki Kramer**
The other lesson I've done similar is in 3D. I had some redwood (or any kind of wood) posts that were about 3x3" and the shop teacher cut them into 3x3x3" squares. We slightly sanded these to get off the spikes of wood which were left. Each student got 3 of these square blocks which they stacked one on top of another. They blocked off on drawing paper 9 x12" three-inch squares which gave them the specific measurements of each side of the stacked square and they could sketch in their faces. They transferred onto the blocks with the measured gaps lining up on each. We painted them in tempera. They could "rotate" each block so they would have different parts of the faces connected to make different other faces. When finished, they protected their sculptures with clear spray paint.
Art Appreciation with this project: Marisol Escobar, Marisol Pop Art (Artcyclopedia Online) and/or Dr Seusse
Another use for those post squares is to give each student ONE and they have to make it a "piece of themselves" or a "self-portrait" about who they are. I put out little bits of stuff like wire, beads, cloth, corrugated board, tag board, nails, hammer, lace, computer parts, ribbon, glue, etc. plus tempera. I got some wonderful little sculptures.
One was covered in "eyes" with tag board eyes painted and popping out onto wires. Another used just nails and corrugated board painted and with beads underneath as little pedestals.
Drawing Ideas From **Jayna Huffines**
Here is what I've tried for Middle School sub plans lately, and the kids seem to like it a lot. Next year I intend to give the students a Sub Assignment check list, with a list of assignments that can be completed in a day or two using colored pencil only (so the sub will not have to stress about supplies). I like the idea of giving the kids a choice, because it kind of feels like a "free day" to them rather than a day when they know they will have written work to complete. I feel much better about giving my students written work when I am there for feedback, anyway.
1) How do you picture yourself in twenty years? What will you look like? What will your job be?
2) Draw your family portrait, but not in a posed format. Draw everyone the way YOU see them! Is your brother a pest? How could you show that? Does your sister think she's a princess? Draw her that way! Do you believe that your mother runs the household? How could you draw her? How should you look compared to the rest of your family?
3) Fold your drawing paper in half lengthwise and draw the front of a locker. On the inside of the paper, draw the inside of the locker. You may draw it realistically, with books, notebooks, gym clothes, etc., or you can imagine that your locker door opens to another dimension to reveal a fantasy world. What would the inside of your locker look like then? (Thanks to the originator of this idea-I'm not sure who to give credit to)
4) What if there really is life on Mars? What would the environment look like? Draw it in either one or two point perspective.
5) Draw the inside of your bedroom (mess and all!) in one point perspective.
And the list could go on and on....Jayna will give updates from time to time so check back.
Design/Drawing Ideas From **Kara LiCausi**
The sub plans I leave are very similar to Jayna's, in that I leave a list of options for the students to choose from. The projects could be completed in colored pencil so that there are no issues with supplies. I have the students do their work in their sketchbook and hand them in for a grade to make sure that nobody is wasting time while I'm not around. I also use these for homework sketchbook assignments.
1. Pretend that you are a fashion designer. Design an outfit for each season, complete with accessories. Pay close attention to the color schemes and how they would be appropriate to each season.
2. Design a car, boat, plane, motorcycle, etc. Add interesting gadgets or features such as ones that could make them fly, or turn invisible. The students may label and describe the parts and often name their "machines".
3. Draw an animal in a strange environment. The animal may be real or imaginary. I have seen elephants in fish bowls, and a herd of cows flying in the sky...a really fun project!
4. Draw yourself or someone you know as a cartoon, a background must be included.
5. Choose an image (art print) that is hanging in the classroom. Draw it as best as you can, but change the color scheme.
6. Fold your paper in half. Choose a landscape and draw it twice, once on each half of the paper, but draw the landscape as you would see it in two different season. Make use of warm and cool colors and add interesting details.
7. Draw an everyday scene, such as a day at the zoo, park, carnival, etc, but either add 5 hidden pictures or draw 5 things within the picture that are bizarre, but not immediately obvious to the viewer.
8. Draw your hand in three different positions. Create a composition using all three drawings. (This one was from Yvette Lewis)
**Hog Wild Metal Magnetic Sculptures** from **Linda Wood**
Linda has many different learning centers to use as back-up plans. One is Hog Wild Metal Sculptures - the kids really go to town creating unusual creative pieces (think Picasso and other cubist sculptors). These are all temporary as after a few days, they are disassembled and put back into the boxes for others to use. Linda has purchased several sets and mixed them all into one center. See Hog Wild page for more information.
What's inside your Locker? from Yvette Lewis
Handle this as a lesson in surrealism - fantasy - or personal self portrait of a different kind. Draw details of locker on out side, lock, handle, vents etc. I provided a template of the locker for them to put inside the folded 12 x 18 (or 9 x 12) drawing paper for those who had trouble remembering what our lockers looked like. Inside draw whatever wild and unusual objects that might be hiding while no one is looking. Students can do monsters, talking sneakers, underwater scenes, landscapes, animals, Finish in colored pencils or makers. Posted originally by Yvette Lewis.
Bad Hair Day by Michal Austin and Sky McClain
All grade levels (K thru 8) should be able to have fun with this idea. For Michal's "bad hair day" assignment, draw either a lady's or a man's face. Add hair, either atop the female's head, or the male's mustache and beard. The requirements for this lesson include drawing a minimum of 5 different values, and 5 different line patterns. The values are achieved through variations of line thickness and distance. The entire artwork is created using black permanent marker on 12"x18" white paper. (For a sub, you could use 9" x 12" paper so it will be easy to complete in one day). Sky's lesson has the student drawing a minimum of six different kinds of lines and repeating all around the head for hair. Check Michal Austin's Art Kids site for more great ideas - pictures and brief instructions included!
See how beautiful this lesson can be! Princeton Community Middle School
Cryptograms from Yvette Lewis
Use 1" grid paper. Create a symbol for each letter of the alphabet -- it should fill the
square. Write your name or a secret message with the new alphabet
**Surrealism Hand Drawing by Bunki Kramer**
Have students draw their hand realistically first - then create a surreal hand. See also Surreal Feet.
From Jean Womack: I like the lesson plan where you trace the outline of the hand and fill each
finger with a different texture or pattern. They can also draw animals or people in the hand. They usually say they've done it before, so I say that great artists draw and paint the same thing over and over, like Monet's haystacks, so please do it again One girl drew a "save the animals"
picture in her hand. Here is how Michal Austin answers the problem " We did that before": When I have students tell me they've done something before I ask them if they've ever had pizza. Then I ask them if they've had pizza more than once, and if they'd ever like to have pizza again. Then I explain that good things are worth doing more than once.
Shapes and Things by Ellen Sears
I have left for grades 2-7. I left the book 'Shapes and Things' by Tana Hoban - a book of photo grams along with a bucket of kitchen utensils.
Two assignments I have left are:
1. Draw one object 5 times - 1 complete, and four coming onto or going off of the page
2. Divide the paper into 6 unequal sections. Draw the silhouette in one section to fill... Abstract the object in each of the remaining sections by - multiplying, dividing, adding, subtracting, stretching...
They can use markers to add pattern in negative or positive, warm and cool, complementary...
Castles Dragons and More by Jean Womack
This is good for sixth graders. Jean is a substitute in the San Francisco area. An art teacher was gone for a week. She left a very elaborate lesson plan where the students were supposed to draw a castle, from a handout. Then add dragons, trees, etc, all from the handout. And draw lots of detail. She said they love castles. She drew one on the board that was awesome. Jean showed Cinderella or Snow White or one of those Disney movies that have castles in it (you might want to check with the school policy on showing Disney videos - maybe show a segment of the video). She told them that Disney people made a lot of money drawing castles. Jean also got old calendars with castles and put them up on the wall.
Elements and Principles of Design Videos (Gerald Brommer videos) by Dawn Stienecker
Here is a Substitute note for the Videos:
Good Morning Substitute,
I have requested a TV/VCR from the LMC. Please pick it up.
The video is the Principles of Design (or Elements of Design). It lasts approximately 30 min.
There is a handout (handout for Elements - handout for Principles - Note: You might want to include a question or two about the content of the video) – the top part should be done while the video is on so that they will pay a little bit closer attention.
The last part can be done after the video is over. This shouldn’t take more than the 10 or so remaining minutes.
Finally - on the back of the work page, please have them write down their favorite project from the video.
Have a great day
Creative Advertisement Design by Phyllis Brandon
Materials: 8 ½” x 11” Plain White Copy Paper
9” x 12” White Drawing Paper
Pencil Art gum erasers
Color Markers or Color Pencils
Hand out the copy paper.
Students are to design an eye-catching magazine advertisement for one of the following: clothing, food, or a sporting event or equipment. Do NOT use real brand names (like NIKE.) Students are to make up a name for their brand of item. Prices need to be stated in the ad. Encourage the students to be as creative as possible with names, descriptions, and advertisements.
The planning is to be done on the copy paper in pencil. Then, when the students are satisfied with the design, they can get a piece of drawing paper and draw their final design on the white drawing paper. Entire surface of white drawing paper should be used and in color. No white backgrounds. Students are to leave white only items that they intend to be white in color. Designs will be graded according to creativity, neatness in execution, and how well they followed directions
Original Comic Strip by Phyllis Brandon
Materials: 6” x 24” drawing paper strips
Pencils
Art gum erasers
Color Pencils
Give everyone a long piece of drawing paper. Show them how to fold in half, then in half again. When it is opened up, there are 4 sections.
Students are to create at least 3 characters and make up names for them. They are to compose a 4-part comic strip based on the 3 characters. The characters should interact and speak with each other. Students should enclose legible spoken words in a bubble.
All four parts should relate to each other and one section should contain a punch line. The entire four sections should be filled with the cartoon design.
Body parts should be drawn to fill the cartoon space-not just heads.
Students should color their cartoons with color pencils. Encourage the students to be as creative as possible with their cartoons, character names, and punch lines.
Comic strips are graded on originality, legibility, neatness, and good use of design components.
Design an Art Museum - by Sara Green
Draw a one point perspective room with frames on the wall and a sculpture table or case. Have the students design an art museum by drawing works of art in the frames drawn on the paper. You can suggest they use what they have learned in previous lessons or projects as a start, or you could leave postcards of famous art work. They can draw people looking at the work as well. At a higher level they could design a specific type of museum - a Picasso museum, a modern art museum etc.
Suggestions from Linda Kieling
Jasper Johns' "Numbers in Color" inspired name design.
1. fold paper so that it makes a grid of squares
2. student writes name one letter in each box until page is filled
3. create a pattern in each square (can write lesson to be more specific like -unity by using color scheme, etc)
Create an Alphabet - all letters are inspired by a single theme (IE: beach theme C looks like conch shell, S like starfish)
From the Start - students have to start with a dot (or line or number) on their page, then they have to creatively disguise it within their composition.
Upside Down Drawing from Lisa Ruiz
Having a sub in the art studio is always a planning issue. I teach 6-8 grade art at a visual and performing arts magnet and even though my students are familiar with the studio procedures there are still problems. They are adolescents after all and they will test the limits. I always lock up all materials when I am going to be out and I leave only the materials they will need for the activity that is planned.
I usually leave a drawing activity because all they will need are the instructions and pencil and paper. I try to make it as easy for the sub to manage as possible. I use several of the drawing activities in the drawing workbook by Betty Edwards, Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain. It's a companion workbook to her book. A favorite activity is the upside drawings. The kids love it and the subs usually sit down and do it with the kids. I get notes from them saying, "I didn't know I could draw like that."
In the workbook there are several contour drawings by famous artists and the instructions are to place the copy of the drawing upside down and draw your own contour. I have found that middle school students cannot leave the drawing upside down. They are too concerned with "getting it right" and they can't stand to have their paper or the drawing they are copying upside down.
Before I make the copies of the drawings for the kids I draw light, horizontal lines at one inch intervals all the way down the sample. I place 4 different drawings inside a 9 x 12 manila envelope. The drawings are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 (each drawing gets more challenging) and they are upside down. The students slide the drawing out of the envelope one inch at a time, using the horizontal lines as their guide. They draw only the portion of the image that is revealed as they pull the drawing out. They are told to record the lines and the negative shapes that they see as they reveal more and more of the drawing. I tape the envelope to the table so they cannot move it and the instructions are printed on the envelope. I have used this activity for 5 years. I have a file of master contour drawings and I change out the images when I need to use it again.
This lesson in drawing forces the students to turn off the critic in their head and get down to the business of recording what they see. If they cannot see the whole image it's easier for them to do. Once they have achieved success at the activity a few times they are more willing to use this trick on their own and they develop the confidence they need to take risks in the art room. The kids can't wait to show me how close their copy is to the original. They are so pleased with themselves and the sub has a good day in the studio as well.
Dede-Tisone-Bartels Lessons - Good ideas - easy enough for a substitute
Series of basic art lessons. Geared to middle school level.
In a pinch? Try ART a Facts™ Magazine Source for Art Lesson Plans and Teacher Resources for Art Education Elementary and Secondary Level. Five issues each year - Comes in set of 30 copies. Homeschool issue also available (consists of one copy of each of the five issues). From Judy: I would recommend you order a copy for elementary and secondary for yourself (see Homeschool price - it is worth it!). Lessons are different for each level....Secondary can be adapted for lower grades, too. There is not much difference in reading level. Font is smaller on Secondary copy so there is more in depth information - also good for you to have. Internet resources are given as well as books. You can easily write up a hands on exercise for student to do after they are finished reading and discussing the magazine.
Lessons for Middle School and School
Hidden Squares by Randy Menninghaus
See lesson plan. Randy has set this lesson up for substitutes. Squares are cut from ink drawings (approximately 1" in size) ahead of time. Students glue two or three squares (or irregular shapes) to drawing paper ( cut to 5" to 6" square) and camouflage them into a drawing using ball point ink. Randy suggests using ball point pens rather than pen and ink bottles.
Playing Card Advertisement by Randy Menninghaus
Randy used the court or face cards of a deck of cards as a spring board... Students looked at cards first....Then discussed using a card to sell a product or favorite food. Using 12 x 16 white paper (rulers if you want for the border)... Students draw the two heads and pattern on clothes that relates to the product or food - first in pencil then black pen or a simple application of color... generally colored pencil.
Forensic Drawing from San D Hasselman
I've done this project with my 9th graders, and it might work for you as sub plans and can be extended to multiple days as well. I take a folder (I make enough folders for 1/2 of the amount of kids in class) and put in a face that I have photocopied (from magazines, from online, from newspapers, etc). The face is big enough so that students can 'talk' about the features. I then give pairs of students each a folder. One becomes the 'police artist' and does NOT get to see the photo in the folder, the other becomes the poor crime victim (nothing violent...pickpocketing I usually say). The victim then describes the person in the folder and the "police artist" has to draw it based on the description given to him/her. What makes this interesting is
that I put in all kinds of faces, including a German shepard etc). The "victims" are not allowed to tell the "police artist" WHO the pickpocket was (if they can identify the picture, ie. Brittney Spears). These folders can be shuffled around the room so that multiple drawings can be done by different pairs of students.
Police Sketch Artist from Heather Hayes
Heather used San D's idea that was posted to Getty TeacherArtExchange.
From Heather: Have the students partner up. One student will be the witness, and the other student will be the police sketch artist. I took 20 pictures and glued them onto tagboard (so the sketch artist couldn’t see through the paper), and then put them into envelopes labeled with the suspect number. The witness picks a suspect and describes the suspect to the artist. They can only describe – they can NOT show them the picture. They are allowed to look at the drawing, and offer suggestions to improve it. They may only show the original suspect picture AFTER the artist has finished his or her drawing. After they finished one sketch, the students switch roles – the artist is now the witness. They repeat the activity.
For my suspects, about half were photos of real people, and half were comic villains. I tried to pick “suspects” that had unusual features in order to make it a little easier to describe.
I hung up the original suspect picture and all the drawings of that suspect. I had my classes vote on which one was closest to the original picture. I gave a small reward to the winners.
See some examples from Ridgeview Middle School.
Cursive Name Aliens - from Patti Caiola
With the 4-6th graders I have used this lesson from www.kinderart.com , now it is one of my subs favorite lessons to do: Name Aliens and Monsters - Drawing - KinderArt . They actually have many good ideas for elementary - check it out.
Fuzzy Animals - from Patti Caiola
Using construction paper
[[@../elem/elem45.html|http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/elem/elem45.html]]. (I did the fuzzy tear bears with my Kindergartners the first year I taught and they were very successful - so I decided to use the same technique for any type of fuzzy animal) Use black, white and tan to make fuzzy calico cats, or a spotted dog. The possibilities are endless. I use this as a fun one-day project to introduce the word "texture" into their vocabulary. Whichever type of animal you create, if you break it's body shapes down in to simple squares, rectangles, and ovals the kids catch on quick. They love to rip the paper, and when you rip the paper...there are no mistakes. You can always fix it by gluing pieces together on your paper. The finishing touch is to use a crayon to draw in their eyes, nose and mouth. If time allows, they can color in a background as well. This project took 45 min with my kindergartners, and my 3rd graders were able to complete the animal (as well as a background/sky) in 45 min.
Chasing Shadows - from Betsy Larson
[One day] I grabbed a book that I had, (Chasing Shadows
Samantha Willmoth adds: I can see using this (Chasing Shadows
School Mascot - from Betty Bowen
Good for elementary. My students' favorite one day project is when I teach them how to draw the school mascot. Any drawing medium can be used.
Crayon Transfer Print - from Ann Heineman
Elementary. Using drawing or white copy paper, fold the paper in half, open and on the right facing page do a heavy coat of oil crayon in all kinds of colors. Overlap edges of colors, too. Refold the paper. Using a sharp pencil and firm pressure, draw an image (themes of your choice) on the top page. When you open the page, the drawing will be on the back of the top page in whatever colors it picked up from the oil crayon layer. My students always thought it was like magic and they would make several samples. Keep in mind that left/right orientation of letters will be reversed (to avoid this - draw on the back of the crayoned side and letters will be in right direction). It is a good one day project for many grades - introduces the idea of monoprint.
Packing "Peanut" Sculptures - from Jeryl Hollingsworth
Elementary level. Make sculptures with the packing material that dissolves in water (Test the packing material to see if it is the kind that will dissolve). I save it and give each table a box full and small pieces of tag board (or scrap mat board) for the base and small containers of water. Students dip both ends of the pieces in water and join together . You have to work slowly and not use too much water or it will melt completely. Students love doing it - it's like magic and it's free! I've had them make animals and really impressive buildings.
Independent Project for High School - Grace Hall
This is a project that I've done for many many years. It has proven to be a great way to keep kids interested, motivated, and on task the whole time they are in the art room. This is what my students work on when they complete their other assignments early. This is a way of allowing the student to make choices about what and how they create art. The assignment is given at the beginning of the year. They are assigned to do 2 or more per term, the first one due at mid-term, the second at the final. Students are encouraged to work on this project during any free time they have in my class, because I say they have no free time. If they do, then they have chosen to use time they could be working on their project. There is also a space on my rubric about using time wisely while in class. The Independent Project takes care of all kinds of objectives! [[../high/Grace-IP.htm|Lesson Plan on Incredible Art Department.]]
Chalk and Mountains - from Linda Woods
Great for many grade levels. Use black 18x24 (46 x 61 cm) paper (or any color). Tear mountain shapes out of manila paper across the length of the page. Color along one inch wide of the torn edge, lay it on the black paper and rub down with paper towels to transfer the chalk to the black paper. Keep adding new layers down to the bottom of the page. Beautiful color overlays, everyone is a success. Variation of this - Make Pueblo dwellings. Cut rectangular shapes from manila paper to create the Pueblos. Use torn edges for landscape portion. Accent Pueblos with small windows and ladders. See the work of [[@http://web.archive.org/web/20070815182039/http://www.glenngreengalleries.com/_Artists/DanN/Dan Namingha_Paintings.html|Dan Namingha]] (Tewa/Hopi Artist) for inspiration for the Pueblo dwellings landscapes.Crowd of People from Linda Woods
All faces, heads and bodies are different, including overlapping, pen and ink. Make up a situation/ environment/ event as you draw them.
Take a Line for a Walk - from Linda Woods
Alone or with a partner. Make a line that curves, zigs and zags, has corners, etc. all around the paper. Turn the paper around until you see something that you can develop. Begin adding pattern, turn something into an elaborate eye, add more facial detail, add more pattern, keep going until the page is filled with pattern, thickened lines (from your original lines) to add emphasis, etc. Use for value studies or coloring if time permits.
Pass the Drawing - from Linda Woods
Fun for elementary and middle school. Circle drawing idea. Each person starts drawing something carefully on their page, not trying to fill up the whole page with a scribble, rather make a small interesting area. After one minute, pass to the left. Everyone adds onto the drawing that they just received. Themes may be suggested at first, like Pass the Monster, or Pass the Dwelling, or Pass the Fantasy Vehicle, etc. If drawing with themes, when the monster, dwelling, or vehicle are completed by any one child, environments may be added.
Pass the Collage - from Jeryl Hollingsworth
Another version of the pass and draw lesson is a paper collage. Good to use up all the scraps. Each child cuts one shape and glues it. Pass the paper and the next child adds another shape. Usually they start to take on form and become something or end up really abstract which makes a good beginning for learning about that. Students could also be given a theme fro this fun assignment.
More suggestions from Linda Woods
Small clay animals (this is particularly good to use as a practice macquette for a clay project - sort of like sketching in clay). Blind contour drawings of hands, feet, friends faces, shoes.
Roller Coaster and Skateboard Parks - from Jan Hillmer
I let the kids create a roller coaster or skateboard park using all the leftovers of colored paper. I give them glue (put on a drip of glue - hold and count to 10 - rub a bit between fingers to create a bit of friction to make glue stick faster), one 9x12 (23 x 30.5 cm) of some weird color I can't use, and a few quick lessons on ways to join paper. Then let them go. They LOVE this project. You can require certain heights, or structure styles if desired. I've done this with K - 6 EL. Jan recommends putting out small nut cups of glue and Popsicle sticks
Op Art Lines - from Denise Pannell
This is good for grades 4 thru 6 (probably even 7th and 8th would enjoy it for a day). It might take them more than one day to finish depending on the size of the drawing. Op Art Line - Bridget Riley
Blow Paint Bugs - from Denise Pannell
Fluorescent paint blown on to paper in blobs. Black Sharpie details added to the bodies.
Peace Doves- from Denise Pannell
Look at Picasso's doves. Draw a dove using black marker on white paper. Add some lines radiating out from the dove. Fill in each area with pattern, leaving the dove white.
DRAW!- from Denise Pannell
I write a sentence a the bottom of their paper & they illustrate it- black Sharpies and then colored pencil. Ex: My Messy Bedroom, Help! I'm Caught In A Video Game!, Princess Peony and Her Pet Frog Herman, Inside My stomach After Lunch, etc. (I have a huge list I made up) Kinda like the Anti-Coloring Books.
Mistake Paintings- from Denise Pannell
Read the book "A Big Mistake
Styrofoam Plate/Marker Printmaking - from Jeryl Hollingsworth
Here is one that is adaptable to many grades. Styrofoam printing plate stamps could be made to do the [[../middle/middle15.html|Islamic Pattern printing lesson]] that is on Incredible Art Department (glue Styrofoam stamps to blocks of wood).
This great with 1st grade on up -- printing with Styrofoam plates and markers. We look at the Albrecht Dürer print of the rhinoceros and talk about the lines and patterns and shapes he used. They love the story about how his friend wrote him a letter about the rhino he saw on a trip to India and Durer made the wood cut without ever having actually seen a rhino. We talk about wood cuts. I have a huge supply of meat trays that I got new from a grocery store. They draw a simple animal with a dull pencil into the Styrofoam (add texture lines ) and then color over it with a marker. Press a piece of copy paper on the Styrofoam
Kindergarten - Letters of the Alphabet - from Jeryl Hollingsworth
I do a lesson each week that correlates with the letter the kindergarten class is learning. When it is "r" week , I read them the book Plant a Rainbow or another rainbow book. I use the big paper roll and draw a large rainbow on blue paper. I write the color word in the correct place on the spaces (while the students are watching) This is stuck up on my dry erase board with magnet strips. Then the students cut pieces from magazines to fill up the rainbow. They love doing it and can usually fill up a good sized rainbow in 45 minutes. They use glue sticks (white glue would run). "H" day is paper hat day. They sure were proud of their Paper Hats. More letters of the alphabet to come.
Hand Design - from Tammi
I had the kids trace a hand, then draw 5 lines anywhere on the paper (I left that open-ended. The lines could go from one edge of the paper to the other but didn't have to, the lines could be straight or curved, etc.) Then, they had to create a different design in each of the new spaces created. This can be done with markers, colored pencils, or crayons. Students can color if time remains. Students learn patterns and explore line. Good for any elementary grade.
Contour Name Design - Tammi
One lesson my students love is the contour line name design. Write your name large on a sheet of paper. Choose 3 colors (skinny markers work best, but we've also done this with the twist up crayons). With one color, start on the left edge of the paper, about half way down, and draw a line headed toward the right side of the paper. When you are about to bump into your name, go up and around it, following the contour of the letters, then finish the line across to the right side of the paper. Pick a second color, and do this again but go on the bottom of the name. Continue the lines from left side to right side in a pattern using only the 3 colors (learn radiating line). I always have 2 samples to show - one completely finished with no space for any more lines, and one with about an equal amount of lines on the top and the bottom of the name to show that it can be a finished product even if you run out of time. If time remains, students could color the spaces between the lines.
Parts of Speech Mix Up - from TammiThis is a lesson for ALL grade levels - fun for high school, too. I've never tried this one yet, but it's in my bag of tricks... I'll get to it some day! Have each child write a noun (or be more specific and say it has to be an animal, or an object which can be found in a classroom, or whatever) on a slip of paper, a verb on another slip, and an adjective on a third slip of paper. Put them in 3 separate bowls and pull out one of each. The class has to attempt to draw it! Examples: slippery cat jumping, bumpy pencil running... Good lesson for colored pencils - or any drawing medium.
Create a Species - from TammiGood for elementary and middle school. Small group activity: Make groups of 5 (can be adapted to fit 4 or 6 instead as needed). Write the following on slips of paper for each group: head, body, tail, legs, wings. Each person in the group pulls out a word and draws ONLY that part of a new species of bird (this could be to create a new species of any kind of animal - doesn't have to be limited to birds). Cut out and glue together to make one bird (or animal). They can put the slips back in the bowl and draw words out again, continuing until clean up time - or until each member has an animal/bird. If you want equal groups and have students who are "left over" (or if you have a couple of kids who just don't work well in groups AT ALL), these extra kids can make background scenes or trees for the birds to all live on once they are completed. Students could use the mixed up animals then to refine for a drawing project (work on scale and proportion since having all students drawing individual parts probably end up not matching up to scale).
Contour Line Mazes - from Patti Caiola
Grades 4 thru 6 - I take small (2" [5 cm] squares) scraps of construction paper
The Shapes Our Hands Create - from Patti Cailoa
Grade K thru 6 - I have students trace their hands 3 times on a piece of 9 x 12 (23 x 30.5 cm) white paper with a pencil. They overlap their hands each time, trace right over the hand they just drew. I emphasize that they will get the best results if they overlap their fingers each time. Then they trace over their pencil lines with a marker (fine point, Crayola black crayons
For these and more plans see:
http://www.incredibleart.org/
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